Chronicles of the Dusk
by Nintendogeek01
Summary: The Night-Hunters return as new challenges present themselves? Will they last against old foes? Will they last against new threats? Or will they and their new friends suffer when their two worlds collide? Rated for language and violence. Chpt. 19 posted.
1. The Hunt has Begun Again

Chronicles of the Dusk

Hello again readers. This time I bring to you the sequel to "Chronicles of the Night". Originally I was going to wait a while before writing this, but I had the story stuck in my head, so I decided to simply go ahead and put it out there.

Our old friends the Night-Hunters rejoin us for another adventure, full of action, suspense, drama, romance, and a compelling story that none of you want to miss. So without further ado…

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel Comics, I do own my original characters and the plot.

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The Hunt has Begun Again

Two years ago in the city of Los Angeles, California, a team of three heroes came together. They battled crime together, battled malicious villains, and even when the odds were against them they protected the city. Now they still protect the city from all dangers that approach it.

But with time comes change. It is inevitable, with the passage of time progress comes with it. The only question is, will this change be for the better or for the worse?

Night time at a museum…

"Okay, did he want one of these?"

"He only said to grab what we could carry idiot."

"Hey guys, you sure this is a good idea?" A large group of guys in ski masks were standing in a large room that had numerous brass sculptures, paintings, and other works of art. There was also a second floor that displayed more paintings. All of the lights were out so the men had to guide themselves with their flashlights.

"What do you mean?"

"You know… those guys."

"Those guys? You mean the security guards?"

"Why are you worried about them? We took them out already."

"Not the security guards."

"Oh… you mean the Night-Hunters."

"Exactly."

"Relax."

"Why?"

"Just as long as we do what he says we'll be cool."

"Yeah, just chill Benny."

"…"

"Benny?"

"Sorry…"

"!!!" Everyone turned around to find a shadow leaning against the wall in between two paintings.

"Benny is not in right now, may I take a message."

"It's one of them!" One guy pulled out his gun and fired three shots.

"Ha ha!" The shadow dived to the side and jumped all the way up to the second floor of the room, everyone shined their flashlights on him.

He was standing perfectly erect on the railing at a height of 5'11". He had on a tight black costume with blue shoulders, a blue ring on the chest and back, blue stripes at the hips, and a pair of blue gloves and boots. The gloves were fingerless and the gloves were toeless, neither his fingers or toes had nails, his black mask left his blonde hair exposed along with his nose, mouth, ears, and blue eyes. "Boo."

"Take him down!"

BAM

BAM

BAM

"Your aim sucks!" Night-claw shouted as he dived below, he landed on his hands and sprang off of them right towards one of the gunmen.

"OOF!!!" Night-claw kicked him to the ground and jumped off of him to deliver an aerial spin kick to the side of one other guy's head. He then hurled that guy at one of the bronze sculptures and got the guy tangled in it. Night-claw bounded around the room like an acrobat, avoiding gunfire easily. Night-claw would either punch one in the face, kick one under the chin, or hurl him at a wall or statue.

"Hmmmmm…" Night-claw looked around, observing the unconscious crooks dangling from the walkway or from a statue, or sprawled against the wall. "Yes this is an interesting piece of art but it's missing something…" He then back flipped high in to the air over a bullet that came from behind him. He landed behind the last gun man and threw him right under a painting. "There! That completes it! Now to go after the guys that escaped during the fight." He said right before jumping up to the second floor and running out of the room.

On the roof…

"Oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap…" Two helicopters were ready for takeoff as a few men in ski masks were climbing in. "Here he comes!"

"Hm?" Night-claw got to the roof to see the two helicopters taking off. "Ooooohhhh… them Dukes them Dukes." Night-claw said with a bad southern accent as he went after one of the helicopters.

"Night-claw, come in."

"This is Night-claw, what's up Night-Roller?" Night-claw responded as he jumped the rooftops after the one helicopter.

"How's the museum going?" Night-Roller asked over the radio.

"I'm in pursuit of one of two getaway helicopters; however I heard a bunch of motorcycles and one car leaving the museum as well. This is obviously well planned out." Night-claw responded.

"Okay, I'm going in pursuit of the car. But the motorcycles…"

"Leave them to me." A soft female voice interjected.

"You sure Night-Princess?" Night-Roller asked.

"Yeah… I know I can do it."

Meanwhile…

There was a dark room with a large control panel that had five people sitting at it. Above the control panel there were a number of monitors. Some of the monitors had static, the others had camera views from inside two different helicopters, one car, and the remaining ones had driver's views from motorcycles.

"How's it going?" Came a deep voice.

"The initial team has been taken out Mr. Traxon." Said one of the guys.

"I thought as much." Traxon was a large, yet not obese, African-American man who stood about 6'5" in height, had black flat-top hair, brown eyes. He had on a white tux and was holding a glass of champagne. "As long as the other teams are making their escape. Check in with red team."

Meanwhile…

A group of six motorcycles were speeding through the streets. All of them had motorcycle helmets that made seeing their faces impossible, some of them had packs on their backs. "This is red leader, over. Right, no problems so far."

"Red leader! We've got something on our six!"

"What?" Red leader looked in to his mirror to see a large red wolf running and gaining on them. "Hey… boss, were wolves involved with the Night-Hunters?"

"A wolf?"

"How is a wolf gaining on us?"

"Shoot at it you idiot!"

"Right." One of them turned and fired their gun. The wolf darted to the side as it ran.

"ARF!" The wolf leaped at one of the motorcyclists without a pack and swiped a claw at him as it jumped over the motorcycle.

"AH!" The guy lost control and slid to a stop with the motorcycle on top of one of his legs.

"It's got to be involved with them!"

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…" The wolf sped ahead of them, avoiding the silver bullets fired at it as it ran. Once it got a fair distance away the wolf changed shape. When it was done, a girl with red hair in a bun stood a ways down the road. She was about 5'3" in height, she wore shades, a black jacket and gloves over a black shirt, black pants, and black sneakers.

"It is one of them!"

"Remember, we have to shoot the girl in the head or heart."

"…" Night-Princess eyes under the shades glowed red and orange, a large number of bats fluttered out from her shadow, the swarm flew straight at the bikers.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" The bats swarmed all over the bikers and caused them all to fall off of their bikes.

"Good job Cynthia…" Night-Princess said to one of the bats.

Meanwhile…

"Guys, I just heard red team got taken down." One guy in a ski mask driving a car said.

"Great… how do we know that we won't get taken down?"

"Hopefully they won't even know that we're getting away."

"On the contrary…"

"Hm?" They turned to find a figure about 6'0" in height skating beside them. He had a black bodysuit with broad golden stripes going down the torso, legs, and arms. He had chrome gauntlets on his arms, chrome roller blades that went up his shin, a chrome helmet, a chrome backpack, and a chrome helmet with a one-way visor. There were flexible metal cables running from the back-pack along his arms and legs to the gauntlets and roller blades.

"On the contrary… we noticed you almost as soon as you left." Night-Roller sped ahead of the car, skated backwards in front of it, stooped down and pushed against it, slowing it down to a halt.

"Stop him!" They pulled out their guns and tried shooting him to stop him, but the bullets bounced off of his force-field. "Wait the boss said to use heavier weaponry on this guy."

"At this close of range!?"

"Damn…"

"This is your stop!" Night-Roller stopped the car and dragged it to the side of the road before firing blasts from the tips of each finger to knock out each guy.

Meanwhile…

"Did we lose him?"

"I don't know…"

BAM

"No…" The helicopter pilot noticed Night-Claw clinging to the windshield.

"Relax, he can't get through the windshield or the doors."

"…" Night-Claw smiled devilishly as nails slowly protruded through the tips of his fingers.

Meanwhile…

"Boss?"

"What?" Traxon asked in an annoyed tone of voice.

"Was the cat guy supposed to have metal claws?"

"Metal?" A few monitors showed images of Night-claw revealing nails that glistened under the moonlight. He swiped his metal claws at the windshield and pierced it before dragging them along the windshield, leaving trailing claw marks. He then elbowed that window and broke through.

"OH MY GOD!!!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

"SON OF A…"

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…" Traxon groaned as the monitors in that helicopter went static. "Plan B."

Meanwhile…

"Now be a good boy and land this helicopter." Night-claw told the pilot as he held his claws at his throat.

"I can't just land this anywhere…"

"You didn't have a problem… hm?" Night-claw's ears perked up a bit. "Oh crap…"

Meanwhile…

KABOOM

"AAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

"LOOK OUT!!!" Debris from a helicopter above the pedestrians were beginning to fall.

"Hang on!" Two beams of energy blasted through all of the falling debris and reduced it all to relatively harmless chunks of metal as they fell. Night-Roller then skated down the street. "Night-Claw come in!"

"I'm okay don't worry. I couldn't save some of the crooks but I did grab two of them and the pilot." Night-Claw responded. "That rocket came from a very long distance."

"I'm going after the last chopper… find that rocket man."

"I think I already have." Night-Princess' voice said.

Meanwhile…

"Damn… that was supposed to take down that Night-Hunter." A man with a Rocket launcher that had a scope on it said.

"AH!!!"

BAM

BAM

BAM

BOOM

"Hm?" The man turned to the door leading off of the roof as a man was thrown through it. Night-Princess dived through the door with a few bullets narrowly missing her. "AH!" The man pulled out a gun and fired a few shots at Night-Princess. She avoided the bullets and ran for the man.

"Ha!" Night-Princess tackled him around the waist and dived off the building with him.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"Don't worry…" Night-Princess flipped in mid-air and landed on her feet holding the man. She removed her shades to reveal her dark purple eyes. "Just go turn yourself in to the police." Night-Princess said as her eyes glowed red and orange while looking in to the man's eyes.

"Yes…" He said hypnotically as he walked down the street.

Meanwhile…

"Grrrrrrrrrr…" Traxon growled as he noticed more monitors going out. "Didn't even take one of them down."

"But there's still one chopper left." One of the men tried to say sheepishly.

"No… that chopper is as good as taken down." Traxon sighed.

Meanwhile…

"…" Night-Roller was zooming through the streets watching the helicopter as he caught up with it. He ducked slightly and then made an incredible leap on to the top of a roof after the helicopter. He aimed his glove at the chopper as his visor indicated a spot on it.

BAM

A small beam of energy hit the spot on the visor. The helicopter began to fall to the ground slowly. Night-Roller got right under it as it was falling. "Here goes…" Night-Roller held his arms open and caught the helicopter and skid to a halt on a particularly long rooftop, barely stopping before reaching the edge. "Whew…"

"Okay… okay we surrender!" One of the guys said as all of the crooks climbed out with their hands held up.

"I'm glad to hear you guys say that." Night-Roller said.

"Did I miss anything?" Night-Claw asked as he and Night-Princess both arrived at the scene.

"Whew… we caught them." Night-Princess sighed. "…" Night-Princess' nose then twitched slightly, as did Night-Claw's.

"…" Night-Claw looked at Night-Roller and moved his lips.

"…" Night-Roller quickly fired energy blasts at all of the men and knocked them unconscious. Night-Claw got close to them and opened up their vests. "Looks like my nose wasn't lying… they had bombs on them." Night-Claw said.

"They intended to kill themselves?" Night-Princess asked.

"All of them had silver bullets… the escape methods were clearly well organized… and the guys had at least a cursory knowledge or our abilities and how to fight us." Night-Roller said.

"I see where you're going." Night-Claw said as he carefully removed the explosives from each of the unconscious men.

"Right…"

"Oh… Traxon…" Night-Princess said.

"Man… I thought I'd never see him again." Night-Claw sighed.

"We'll worry about that later, let's return the art to the museum and leave these guys somewhere for the police." Night-Roller told them.

"Okay." Night-Princess responded.

"Gotcha." Night-Claw said as he hoisted two guys on his shoulders and jumped off.

Meanwhile…

"We didn't get away with any art from the museum, and we didn't manage to eliminate any of the Night-Hunters." A man told Traxon as he sat behind a desk.

"…" Traxon sighed as he twiddled his fingers. He wasn't nervous, but he was clearly deep in thought. "So far… my only immunity with the Night-Hunters is that I'm an icon to LA."

"Sir?"

"But sooner or later, they'll find a way to trace these crimes back to me… sooner or later they'll find a way to turn sufficient evidence over to the police to arrest me." Traxon continued. "Tonight's operation only told them that I'm back and active, now the war with them continues. They'll be trying to find a way to take me down actively."

"Surely they can't be capable of that sir. You've gone this long without getting caught." Traxon's stooge said, trying to put in a vote of confidence.

"Yes, and the Romans kept their empire going for a long time as well, but it fell as well." Traxon said. "No, any more operations while the Night-Hunters are after me must be kept quiet. I must focus more of my attention on eliminating them."

"Well what would you suggest sir?"

"Hmmmmm…" Traxon leaned his elbows on his desk. His eyes were closed, and he thought hard. "Large gangs would be no good… too disorganized, and Night-Roller's abilities make gangs hard to use. Nothing old… we need something that I haven't thrown at them before."

"…"

"Mutants… likely, but there's no guaranteed control over mutants. I need something more controllable. I need something capable and strong, yet simple and manageable…" Traxon finally opened his eyes. "Connect me to Hell's Haven."

"H-H-Hell's Haven… A-as in the mercenary house?" The lackey stuttered.

"Yes." Traxon said.

"Sir… they aren't cheap… and th-the…"

"I don't care how intend to finish that sentence… get me Hell's Haven." Traxon said with a wicked smile.

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And there is chapter one everybody. Chapter two will help to clarify a few things that have happened over the last two years in the Night-Hunters' lives. Let me know what you think in a review.


	2. Perfect Day

Chronicles of the Dusk

In the first chapter, the Night-Hunters made their return with a bang. They foiled a bank robbery organized by Floyd Traxon. So what happened over the last two years? And what about this Hell's Haven?

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel Comics, I do own my original characters and the plot.

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Perfect Day

Two hours after the foiled bank robbery…

A man was walking through a deserted alleyway. He had a shaved head, he stood 6'1" in height, and a mild build. He had his hands in the pockets of his long black coat. He had a stern look reflected in his brown eyes. The man stood before a door, he knocked on it and an eye hole opened.

"Oh… you…" The eyehole closed as the man pulled some shades out of his coat pocket and put them on. The door slid open to allow the man in. The moment in stepped in he brought a hand up to catch a knife thrown at him between two fingers.

"Real mature…" The man sighed.

"Ha ha ha… hey everyone, simpleton Simon is back." Someone laughed. Looking around you could see a sort of bar that had numerous round tables. At every single table there was someone that was either armed to the teeth, or someone that looked as though they could kill you with a stare.

"Hey, nice job on that last assignment simpleton Simon!" Another guy shouted, clearly mocking him.

"Hmph…" The bald man that was apparently Simon scoffed as he gently took the knife by the handle. He looked at one wall that had a life-size picture of a human picture, the kind you could find in a doctor's office. Simon took the knife and hurled it at the picture, nailing it in the left chest where the heart would be.

"Oh look, simpleton Simon CAN hit the spot that more than half of us can hit." One guy mocked.

"…" Simon simply walked by all of the mocking voices and he went to a room in the back.

"Simon Simon Simon…" A man with a gruff voice sitting behind a shabby wooden desk chided. "Well, seems the employer of your last job ended up ripping you off again."

"I get enough mockery from those losers in the other room, I sure as hell don't need it from you." Simon said, barely keeping a cool composure.

"Hey, you know me, I just find you guys the jobs, and you carry them out." The man said. "And as for them, get used to it, they do that with all the new guys."

"I've been part of Hell's Haven for more than half a year now, how does it take to not be considered the new guy?" Simon asked as he took a seat on the other side of the desk.

"Until you make a smashing success out of a really big job." The man said.

"That's hardly fair." Simon scoffed, leaning back.

"How so?"

"I know I'm better than most of these guys in here… or at the very least I can be, and yet I get handed half-assed jobs which turn out to be even more half-assed than they appeared on paper." Simon said, leaning forward now.

"So what do you want then?"

"I want a big job. Not simply body guarding, not simple find this person jobs, not even typical assassinations… I want a job that sends me in to real danger. Powerful crime lords, or even better, a job that puts me up against a mutant." Simon said.

"Heh… well, since you sound so confident, I might actually give you an early Christmas present."

"Excuse me?"

"I got a job a little while ago… pack for warm weather Simon, you're going to LA." The man said.

The following morning in a small home in LA…

"Stacy!!! Breakfast!" A woman called upstairs from the living room, which was right next to the kitchen.

"Okay mom I'm coming." Soon a teenage girl came downstairs. She had short blonde hair, green eyes, blue jeans, pink sneakers, a pink T-shirt, and a blue jean jacket. She had diamond earrings as well and a pleasant face to look at.

"Really, just because you turned sixteen last month doesn't mean you get to sleep in every morning." The mom teased. "Now eat up, and get going, you promised to meet Myra today right?"

"That's right, she wanted to get to shopping before school started." Stacy said, grabbing a piece of toast.

"Sixteen, a junior in high-school… oh I just wish your father could see this." Stacy's mom sighed.

"Oh mom…" Stacy sighed. "Hey, thanks for giving me today off."

"I expect you to help out tomorrow though."

"I know I know…" Stacy sighed.

"Oh and Stacy…"

"Yeah?"

"Don't do anything that might… well… you know…" The mom said.

"Mom, we went over this three years ago. It's all good now." Stacy said.

"Well, I'm just glad that Myra's going with you. It's good to have a friend who understands."

"Bye mom…" Stacy said, walking out the front door.

Meanwhile…

"Mmmmmmmm…" Lisa walked sleepily down the steps and in to the living room, brushing a hand through her still long red hair. Lisa had grown a fair bit, now 5'3" in height, her skin was probably a bit more pale than it had been, but understandably so. "Dad? Felix?" She thought she had heard one or the other down here as she looked around the living room.

"Ha ha!"

"AH!" Lisa screamed in surprise as Joseph snuck up behind her and snatched her up around the waist. He lifted her up and spun around once. "Ah! Let me down Dad!" Lisa screamed in between laughs.

"Ah I don't know if I can…" Joseph laughed. After he let her down. "Ah look at you, I hardly recognize you as the same little girl we knew two years ago."

"Ah Dad…"

"And hey… happy birthday." Joseph said, holding out a small present. Lisa took it and opened it. It was a beautiful gold bracelet that had the words 'To My Greatest Treasure' on it.

"Thank you." Lisa said with a smile. She immediately tried it on, she then gave Joseph a hug.

"Whoa… not too tight now… you keep forgetting I'm not the super-humanly strong one here." Joseph chuckled.

"Sorry…" Lisa said sheepishly. "Where's Felix?"

"Actually… I don't know." Joseph said.

"Right here." Felix said, coming out from the bathroom. He had on casual clothes and was drying his hair with a towel. He had a really big smile on his face.

"How come I didn't hear the shower running?" Joseph asked.

"Oh well I finished taking my shower a while ago but then I got a call…" Felix said.

"A call? What for?" Lisa asked.

"A year to get my teaching degree has paid off, because I got the teaching job!" Felix declared happily.

"Really? That's wonderful." Lisa said.

"Congratulations man. Really that's great news." Joseph said, shaking Felix's hand. "Oh, how are those nails coming?"

"Hm? Oh these…" Felix revealed his claws, now instead of looking like normal cat claws, they looked metallic. "The metal has bonded perfectly."

"Looks like that adamantium paid off after all." Joseph said.

"Technically is silver-adamantite." Felix said.

"What?"

"Remember dad?" Lisa asked. "Felix thought about… well… him." Lisa said, hesitating to say a certain name.

"Yeah, Drake." Felix said with disgust. "It took a while, but I finally managed to figure out a way to make a silver-adamantium hybrid metal that would bond with my claws."

"Right…" Joseph sighed. "I'll leave the chemistry stuff to you and stick to my guns with technology."

"Speaking of sticking with stuff…" Felix said. "Joseph, with me teaching now, you're going to have to find a new manager now."

"Right." The two men sighed and shook hands. "Well, at least you'll be staying here right?"

"Of course, someone's got to take care of you two." Felix said. "Oh yeah… happy birthday Lisa." Felix said, handing Lisa a small package.

"Thank you." Lisa said.

"I'm sorry that I can't stay, but I've got to go." Felix said heading for the front door.

"Where are you going?" Lisa asked.

"I'm going to go meet Elaine at the mall." Felix said before walking out the door.

"Who's Elaine?" Lisa asked.

"Yeah… Lisa… you know how Felix dated that one woman after we came home from Russia?" Joseph asked.

"Yeah." Lisa asked. "But they broke up."

"Yeah… I can see why since he couldn't explain why he would be late or show up with bruises." Joseph commented. "Well Felix has been busy with stuff lately that he forgot to mention that he's dating someone else now."

"He is?"

"Well you have to admit, you do get lonely easily once Felix starts seeing someone new." Joseph told Lisa.

"…"

"But hey…" Joseph said, changing the subject completely. "Anything special you want to do tonight? It's your night after all."

"Well…"

Later…

"And we are here!" Stacy climbed out of the driver's seat of a red convertible after parking in front of the mall.

"So, where should we go first?" A girl that appeared to be Stacy's age asked. She had long black hair that was somewhat curly, a blue shirt, blue jeans, brown eyes, and glasses.

"I don't know, where do you think we should shop first Myra?" Stacy asked.

"How should I know? You have the better sense of fashion you know." Myra told Stacy.

"Yeah I guess I do don't I?" Stacy asked. "Ha ha, come on, I just thought of the perfect place."

"Oh hold on, I nearly forgot my purse." Myra said, grabbing her purse out of the car.

"Glad you remembered." Stacy said. "Well, let's go." Stacy said, grabbing Myra by her hand and pulling her along.

Meanwhile…

A woman with short brown hair, brown eyes, a white t-shirt, red pants and brown shoes was sitting on a bench.

RING

"Hello?" The woman answered her phone.

"Hey Elaine."

"Felix… where are you?" Elaine asked in to the phone.

"I was about to ask you that. Where are you?"

"I'm sitting in front of the bookstore." Elaine said.

"Really, if that's so how come I don't see you?"

"You sound awfully close, wait a second." Elaine turned around to find Felix behind her with his back turned to her. "Felix, I swear…"

"Took you long enough." Felix chuckled. "And how are you today?" Felix asked, giving Elaine a hug. Felix had on his usual shades and glasses, he had a light blue shirt, beige pants, and brown shoes.

"Oh I'm doing just great. Especially knowing that I'm about to drive you bankrupt." Elaine said in a joking tone of voice as she started leading him towards an escalator that led to a clothing store.

"Oh no…" Felix moaned, going along with the joke.

"So… how are they?" Elaine asked.

"Oh, it's her birthday today. And he's doing just fine." Felix answered. They were careful not to say Joseph and Lisa's names. While common names, they didn't want to risk a mob by the off chance.

"You think I'll be able to visit then?" Elaine asked. The two of them were now on the escalator and going up.

"I don't have a problem with it. I'll just have to see if they're up to guests." Felix said. "Oh yeah! I got the teaching job."

"What?! Really? That's great!" Elaine said. "Oh man, and after you described the interview like you did you really had me nervous."

"I didn't think the interview was that bad." Felix said. He and Elaine stepped off of the escalator and walked in the store. It actually wasn't that busy. In fact, there were only two teenage girls, the cashier, a man with a beard, and maybe a few other people on different sides of the store.

"You think this will fit?" Myra asked, holding one dress in front of her for Stacy to see.

"Yeah it will fit but that's not your style… more like this one." Stacy said, grabbing a different dress.

"Hmmm… I'll ask the cashier where to find the dresses I want." Elaine said as she started for the cash register desk.

"…" Felix suddenly got a suspicious look on his face as he looked at the bearded man who was also making his way for the cash register. _"That smell… it smells like… oh no."_ Felix quickly started making his way for the man.

"Can I help you ma'am?" The man at the cash register asked.

"Yeah can I… hey!" Elaine started to say when she was pushed to the side by the man with the beard. "What's the…

"HANDS UP!!!" The bearded man pulled out a gun and pointed it at the cashier.

"Oh god!"

"All of you!" The man shouted.

"Stacy!" Myra shouted.

"Oh no…" Stacy said. Both she and Myra put their hands up.

"F…Felix…" Elaine muttered under her breath.

"Now you! Give me all of the money in the register!" The man shouted. Most of the people began sneaking towards the exits to get away from the scene.

"Bu-but there is no…"

"OPEN THE REGISTER!!!" The man shouted.

"Pst… Myra… I know I can take this guy." Stacy whispered.

"Are you nuts? People will see you though." Myra whispered back. "Wait look."

"What's he doing?" Stacy watched as Felix sneaked up behind the gunman as quietly as he could.

"Ha!" Felix jumped at the man and grabbed him from behind the moment he was close enough.

"AH!" The man put up a struggle as Felix wrestled back.

"_Damn… can't show that I'm super-humanly strong here…"_ Felix thought.

"Felix!" Elaine shouted in worry.

"Grrrrrrrrr…"

BAM

"AH!" The gun went off in the man's hand and shot Stacy

"STACY!!!" Myra grabbed Stacy as she fell, clutching a bleeding bullet wound somewhere near her stomach.

"OH MY GOD!!!" Elaine shouted.

"No!" Felix tried slamming the man against the desk, knocking him unconscious. "Quick! Call an ambulance!"

"R-r-right… oh why did it have to be my shift?" The cashier asked.

"You! Stop her from bleeding!" Felix shouted at Myra.

"I know." Myra said.

"Felix we need to go and grab help." Elaine said.

"I know." Felix said as he and Elaine hurried to the escalator.

"Myra… help…" Stacy gasped.

"Don't worry…" Myra dragged Stacy in to a nearby changing room. She reached in to her purse and pulled out a bottled water. "Can you still do it Stacy?" Myra asked as she unscrewed the lid.

"Y-yeah…" Stacy uttered out between sobs of pain.

"Okay." Myra said as she poured a bit of water on to Stacy's hand.

Elsewhere…

"Yes, sell that stock. Now." Traxon said in to the phone. "Hold my calls for the next half hour."

"Mr. Traxon, a man is here to see you."

"His name?" Traxon asked.

"Simon Boulder."

"Send him in." Traxon said with a smile. He paced in front of his desk confidently as Simon walked in, carrying a black gym bag. "Ah… so you're Simon Boulder."

"And you are Mr. Traxon." Simon said in a cool fashion.

"Set your bag over there, I'll have Woodrow pick it up in a moment, have a seat." Traxon said as he took a seat behind his own desk. "Hell's Haven sent your resume to me shortly afterward and I must say… it has its strong points."

"Thank you sir." Simon said. "Now what I would like to know is exactly what you need me for."

"Straight and to the point, I like that." Traxon said. "Surely you've heard of the Night-Hunters. Correct?"

"Correct." Simon answered.

"To be frank, they're an inconvenience." Traxon said. "They have foiled a number of large operations that could have earned me considerable amounts of money, and they have foiled every attempt to take them down."

"So… you want to send me after a team of mutants." Simon said, a smile crossing his face.

"You seem to be looking forward to the challenge." Traxon said. He pressed a button on his desk. "Anything to drink?"

"Coffee, I take it black." Simon said.

"Bring up a cup of black coffee." Traxon said in to the intercom. "Now of course, I'll make this well worth your while. And considering the special needs for some of those three, you'll also be provided with whatever you need."

"Perfect." Simon said. A man walked in, handing Simon his coffee.

"Here is all the information we have on the Night-Hunters, review it and decide what you need."

"Me?"

"You're the professional here Simon, I'm not so arrogant as to tell you how to do your job." Traxon said.

"Hmmmmmmmm…" Simon opened the first folder, containing information on Night-Claw. "Is there any chance I could my hands on sparring partners?" Simon asked.

"Sparring partners?" Traxon asked.

"Trust me, it'll be for your benefit, preferably partners that know different martial arts." Simon told Traxon.

"Consider it done." Traxon told Simon. "Woodrow, show this man to where he'll be staying for the duration of his stay."

"Yes sir." Woodrow said, grabbing Simon's gym bag and leading Simon out of Traxon's office.

At the mall…

"Oh Myra… I don't know what I would have done if you weren't there." Stacy and Myra were walking back towards Stacy's car. Stacy had on a blue shirt over a darker blue skirt. She was no longer bleeding, in fact she looked perfectly fine. She was also carrying a shopping bag that had the clothes she was wearing earlier today, only they were completely soaked.

"God Stacy… I just hope nobody notices too much about this. I mean, the fact that we're no longer there is going to be suspicious enough." Myra said.

"Don't worry about it. We're out now." Stacy sighed. She and Myra got in the car and just sat there for a moment. Stacy finally broke the silence. "Hey, maybe we should tell our parents." Stacy joked.

"Ha ha! Yeah right." Myra laughed. Stacy turned the car on, and the two drove off.

Later…

"Lisa, this is Elaine. Elaine, Lisa." Felix introduced. They had returned to Joseph's mansion and were sitting together in the living room. Joseph and Lisa sat in separate chairs while Elaine and Felix sat on the couch together.

"Hi…" Lisa said somewhat shyly.

"Hello there, oh Felix has told me so much about you." Elaine said. Joseph and Lisa looked at Felix.

"Not everything…" Felix whispered, reassuring the two of them.

"So you're Elaine, it's nice to finally meet you." Joseph said.

"My, you're much nicer than your music suggests."

"I've gotten that a few times." Joseph sighed. "It's the business, what else can I say?" Joseph asked.

"By the way, you two look a little… jumpy…" Lisa said.

"_Oh, she noticed Elaine's heart rate…" _Felix thought. _"Elaine's not used to gunshots, whereas I laugh at them."_

"Really? Well, just a little flustered from earlier today." Elaine sighed.

"What happened?" Joseph asked.

"We were shopping and some basket case pulls a gun out." Felix said.

"Felix tried to take him down but a girl got shot." Elaine said.

"The police weren't sure whether to arrest me or praise me." Felix sighed.

"That's dangerous." Lisa said.

"Oh but you want to know the weirdest part." Felix said. "When Elaine and I got back, the girl that got shot and her friend were gone."

"What?"

"He's not joking." Elaine said. "And the weirdest part of all, there wasn't a blood trail there. So that would mean she had to have stopped bleeding if she left."

"Yeah…" Felix sighed.

"Maybe she's a mutant." Lisa suggested.

"That'd be scary…" Elaine shuddered.

"You really think they're that frightening?" Joseph asked.

"Well, I'm just afraid that one of these days a mutant is going to lose control and kill me or something." Elaine explained. "Do you mind if I use your bathroom?" She asked.

"Not at all, it's right down the hall." Joseph said. They waited until Elain had shut the bathroom door. "Okay… I've been thinking about what to do about Traxon and here's what I came up with… we're going to bug his systems."

"What?" Felix asked.

"We're going to plant bugs in everything. His phone lines, his computers, everything." Joseph said.

"Oh I get it, we're going to be able to watch his every move that way." Felix said.

"Exactly." Joseph said. "I've almost finished programming it, tomorrow night, we'll break in to Traxon's main office building and plant it."

"Who'll plant it?" Lisa asked. The sound of the toilet flushing reached their ears.

"Let's worry about that later." Felix said. Elaine soon came back in to the room. "Hey Elaine, you need a ride home?" Felix asked.

"Yeah, I do actually." Elaine said.

"Well then allow me." Felix responded, standing up.

"Well of course." Elaine said.

"I'll catch up with you guys later." Felix said as he and Elaine walked out the door.

"Later." Joseph said.

That night…

"These are them?" Simon asked Traxon. The two of them were in a gym with a large gym mat on the floor. In the gym were four guys, three of which were Asian.

"Yes, they're each masters of different martial arts." Traxon said. "He is a master of Shao Lin." Traxon said, pointing at one of the Asians. "He is a master of Tai Chi." Pointing at the only other caucasian in the room. "He is a master of Hung Gar." Pointing at another Asian. "And the last one is a master of Ba Gua."

"…" Simon looked at all four of them.

"Pleased?" Traxon asked.

"Oh yes…" Simon said. "By the time I walk out of here tomorrow morning, I'll be more than ready to take on those Night-Hunters for you." Simon said confidently. Traxon left the room and shut the door behind him while Simon took his stance. "So… which of you first?"

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Is Simon as dangerous as he claims? And what about this girl Stacy? What about the Night-Hunters' plan to take down Traxon? Will it succeed? Read and Review.


	3. Faces

Chronicles of the Dusk

When we last left off, Felix shares the good news of getting a new teaching job with Joseph and Lisa and his new girlfriend Elaine. We also meet a teenage girl named Stacy and her friend Myra, and we also meet Traxon's newest henchman, a mercenary named Simon Boulder. What role will they play? And what of Joseph's new plan for Floyd Traxon.

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel Comics, I do own my original characters and the plot.

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Faces

"I don't know about this guy." Two security guards were walking down the hall leading to the room where Traxon left Simon the night before.

"I'm not so sure about this guy either, but he is a mercenary." The other guard replied.

"True, I guess as long as his paycheck is getting signed he won't try to pull anything." The first one agreed. The two opened the door and looked in the room. "Whoa..."

"About time you guys came around, I was getting bored." It was easy to tell that Simon was in a fight, however he wasn't sweating near as hard as the four martial artists were, and they were also considerably more bruised than he was.

"Don't these guys know Chinese Martial arts? And you beat all four of them?" The guard asked, completely stupefied.

"Not as impressive as you think, I fought them one at a time at first, but I only fought all four at once in the last hour." Simon said, grabbing a sweat towel. "Now unless Mr. Traxon needs me for something right this second, I'm going to catch a nap." Simon told the guards.

"Uh well uh..." The guards weren't sure what to do at first. "You guys, just go see the accountant about your pay." One of them said before walking out of the room.

"Oy... he was pretty good at the start." One of them moaned.

"Yes, but after he fought all of us he became absolutely incredible." Another groaned.

"He must have been going easy on us at first at the beginning to test us or something."

"I don't know... it felt like he was going full out near the start but... who can tell these days?"

Meanwhile...

"..." Stacy was in her car on her cell phone waiting for the other end to pick up. "Myra?"

"Hey Stacy. Boy yesterday was something else huh?" Myra started on the other end.

"Boy was it..." Stacy said. "Anyways, did you catch the news this morning?"

"About the Night-Hunters?" Myra asked.

"Yeah!" Stacy said excitedly. "I mean wasn't that awesome! I mean first the museum, and then they take down a major drug deal."

"Stacy..."

"I mean, seriously where would this city be without those guys."

"Stacy..."

"Oh and I know this sounds odd, but that girl on the team just seems soooo cute..." Stacy continued.

"Stacy you're still day-dreaming of being a super-hero aren't you?" Myra asked.

"What? You have to admit that'd be cool." Stacy said. "And what about you? You're probably the smartest kid in school. I mean, I think we could totally pull it off."

"Stacy, I worry about you sometimes…" Myra sighed on the other end.

"Well, I'm right outside the flower shop, I have to go. Can I call you back after work?" Stacy asked.

"Sure. See you later Stacy." Myra told her before hanging up the phone.

"…" As Stacy got out of the car and walked in to a flower shop with a sign that read "Nox's Florist.", a man with a goatee in completely white clothing was across the street munching on a slice of pizza watching her. A smile crossed his face before turning to walk down the street.

Meanwhile…

"Here you go Lisa, new formulas for you." Felix said as he handed her a very large number of cylindrical cartridges.

"…" Lisa looked at them curiously. "How do I use them?"

"Hm?"

"These don't have needles." Lisa said.

"Oh right, I forgot to give you this." Felix handed Lisa a small tube shaped thing. "Needles are a thing of the past Lisa, it's now been upgraded to an inhaler."

"An inhaler…" Lisa looked at it slightly confused.

"Yep. They're just as good as those old vaccines, and they're more compact, and you can carry a fair bit more of them." Felix told her.

"That's pretty cool." Lisa said. "Say I've been meaning to ask…"

"What?" Felix asked as he and Lisa walked towards the stairs.

"Elaine… isn't really prejudiced is she?" Lisa asked.

"Well… it's complicated…" Felix said. "She isn't about to go join the nearest human supremacist group but… well Lisa it really isn't for me to tell you."

"Oh…"

"Hey guys." Joseph said, coming down the steps and practically bumping in to them.

"Whoa…" Felix was surprisingly caught off guard by this and revealed his claws to grab the wall, unfortunately he revealed his claws on the other hand and scratched Lisa on the arm.

"Ow…" Lisa winced as she grabbed her arm.

"Oh jeez! Sorry! Huh?" Both Joseph and Felix said the exact same thing at the same time.

"Well… the claws work Felix." Lisa sighed sheepishly as she showed them her arm. None of the claw marks were healing very quickly.

"Uh… oops." Felix said.

"You okay?" Joseph asked. "You need disinfectant?"

"Dad, I'm a vampire… I can't get infected."

"Right." The three of them went back upstairs and sat down at the dining room table. "Okay… I was going to tell you that I've got the bugs all programmed." Joseph said. He pulled out a small black box. "There's discs in there for the computers, and small microchips to insert in to the phone lines."

"How exactly are we going to get the information from them though?" Felix asked.

"These things all have a completely untraceable signal that transmits to my computer upstairs." Joseph said. "I'll get all the e-mails, and all of the phone conversation will be converted to text. We'll be able to keep track of everything that Traxon is doing."

"But now we have to put them in the phone and computers right?" Lisa asked.

"She's right, and that place has tight security. Almost as tight as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s security." Felix added.

"That's the tricky part." Joseph said.

"Maybe you could use those new nanobots of yours?" Felix suggested.

"Excuse me?" Joseph asked.

"You know, last year how you built nanobots to maintain your gear while it's active? You could use those." Felix said.

"Felix, they have limited energy supplies, and they can't leave my suit, they have to regularly go back to the backpack module to recharge themselves." Joseph said.

"It was a thought." Felix sighed. "Well, guess I'll do it the old fashioned way. Sneak in without getting caught." Felix said.

"Wait… what about me?" Lisa asked.

"Hm?"

"I could do it, I broke in to Magneto's cell by myself once." Lisa said.

"You did what now?" Felix asked.

"Never mind that." Joseph sighed. "Yeah… you did but… Traxon knows your weaknesses and none of his men are afraid to exploit them." Joseph said. "I don't want you to take that kind of risk."

"…" Felix thought about this as well.

"I could still do it. I could get rats to bug the phones… and I'm sure I can find out where to put the discs." Lisa said.

"I think this could work." Felix said. "But sneaking isn't easy Lisa. I mean if it were Spider-Man or someone it might be a different story."

"Um… well…"

"What?" Joseph asked.

"You know how I could climb surfaces before?" Lisa asked.

"Yeah." They both said.

"Somehow it's… well." Lisa got up from her chair, put a foot on the wall and walked straight up the wall as if she were walking on the floor, she even did this with the ceiling. "I don't know how I do it… but I can do this even in my shoes." Lisa said.

"…" Both Felix and Joseph stared at her.

"Man, first Spider-Man, and now this… how come I don't have sticky fingers? Or feet?" Felix sighed.

Meanwhile…

"I'm surprised…" Traxon said as Simon unloaded packages Traxon ordered for him. They all had a variety of weapons. "Swords, knives, and several other weapons, but not a single gun among them?"

"Guns are too much upkeep, and they have no style." Simon said. "I've never needed one, and don't intend to get one."

"Most interesting." Traxon said.

"But anyways… Titanium swords plated with silver… similarly made knives and throwing weapons, and all sorts of weapons I asked for." Simon said. "You really want me to take these guys down don't you?"

"Any expense is well worth it." Traxon told Simon. "Whatever you need, it will be provided." He said before walking out of the room.

"Heh…" Simon looked at the assortment of weapons before him. "I'll show those guys."

Meanwhile…

"I've told you once and twice now, and my answer is still the same. We're not selling." Stacy's mom told some man at the desk while Stacy was watering a few of the flowers.

"Well that's too bad… our offer is only good for about twenty more hours." The man told Stacy's mom.

"And in twenty hours it'll be the same." Stacy told the man. "Now have a nice day."

"Very well." The man said walking out of the store.

"He still bugging you mom?" Stacy asked.

"Yeah but… it doesn't matter, we won't be selling this flower shop." Her mom said. "Stacy I hate to ask but could you stay late and lock up?"

"Sure mom… I'll just call Myra and tell her not to wait up." Stacy said.

"Oh and… there's a package in the back that's too heavy for me to lift, could you put it in storage?"

"Sure." Stacy said. She walked in the back while touching the tip of her finger to one of her diamond earrings.

That night…

"Okay, I managed to find the blueprints for the building Night-Princess." Night-Roller said in to the radio. "Based on your signal… you need to go up two more floors."

"Okay." Night-Princess responded in to the radio.

"You sure you guys don't need me over there?" Night-Claw asked over the radio.

"Just go on your normal patrol, but stay close enough to where you can get here in a few minutes." Night-Roller said.

Inside…

The security guards were sitting at their monitors keeping vigilant watch on the monitors. One of them couldn't stop staring at the screen that had Simon practicing with each of his weapons in the gym. Suddenly a few monitors went static. "Oy… maintenance… we need you to check on the cameras on the twenty-seventh floor." One guard said in to his walkie-talkie.

Elsewhere in the building…

A mist like substance crept out of the vents in front of a door and then crept under the door. Night-Princess then rematerialized on the other side of the door. Her eyes were red at this point, she pulled out her new inhaler and took it.

"Hm? Hey!"

"!!!" Night-Princess in her thirst only just now noticed the man in the room. She quickly took off her shades and looked in to his eyes with glowing orange and red eyes. "There is nothing to report… now go to sleep." Night-Princess said quietly.

"…" The man stared hypnotically for a moment before he passed out. Lisa then pulled a disc out of her pocket and set it in the nearest slot. "Okay Night-Roller… now just help me set it up." Night-Princess said.

"Okay… first thing you do…"

Elsewhere in the building…

"How is everything this night?" Traxon asked an employee that was walking behind him.

"Well, the business is profiting still and… OH JEEZ!!!"

"What?" Traxon asked.

"A r-rat…"

"A rat?" Traxon turned down the hall and briefly saw something scurry around the corner. "…" He got a suspicious look in his eyes before pulling out a small talkie. "Security, what's your status?"

"A few of the monitors on the twenty-fifth through twenty-ninth floors went out, but maintenance is on it."

"…" Traxon thought for a moment. "Simon…" He said in to a walkie-talkie. "Head to the twenty-seventh floor. And arm yourself."

"Why just twenty-seventh? And you're sending the mercenary?"

"The only thing that could be of interest to the Night-Hunters is on the twenty-seventh floor." Traxon growled.

A few minutes later…

"Okay done." Night-Princess said.

"Get out now. I just intercepted a walkie-talkie transmission… They're coming for you now. Oh! And bring that disc with you, we can't leave evidence of what we were doing." Night-Roller said as calmly as he could.

"Okay." Night-Princess quickly walked out of the door and turned to run down the hallway when a figure stepped out of the elevator. "Hm?" He was bald, had on a belt with a few pouches on it over a black coat.

"Hello…" Simon told Night-Princess. "So you're the vampire girl? Nothing personal, but I've got a job to do."

"…" Night-Princess backed away slowly. Her eyes suddenly glowed and Louis came out of her shadow. "Get him boy!"

"ARF ARF!!!" Louis barked ferociously as he charged at Simon.

"Feisty aren't we?" Simon reached in to a coat pocket and pulled out a sai. He quickly threw it and it flew in to Louis' gaping jaw and pierced out the back of his skull.

"AR!!!" Louis yelped as he vanished in to mist.

"_This guy's good!!!"_ Night-Princess thought in surprise. Simon drew another sai in one hand and grabbed a handful of shuriken from one of the pouches in the other hand. He first threw the multitude of shuriken down the hall at Night-Princess. _"They smell like silver."_ Night-Princess jumped and did a barrel roll flip to avoid the shuriken.

"_Gotcha…"_ Simon ran forward quickly with the sai ready.

"!!!" Night-Princess saw that he was about to thrust that right through her head. Right as she was about to descend to the floor, she suddenly landed on the ceiling instead.

"What?"

"Ha!" Night-Princess dived downward, grabbed Simon by the shoulders and the moment she landed, she hurled him over her head down the hallway.

"Grrr…" Simon managed to readjust himself and land in a crouch right before throwing the sai. Night-Princess didn't expect this and not sure what else to do raised her hand up.

"AH!" The sai pierced her hand through and got stuck there. She pulled the sai out and threw it to the ground.

"…" Simon drew a katana about three feet long from under his coat and took his first swing at Night-Princess. Night-Princess narrowly dodged the sword and began stepping backwards. Simon's swings were getting more varied, rapid, and far more well timed and aimed as she backed down the hallway.

"_It's almost like he knows how I'm moving."_ Night-Princess ignored the pain as the sword left a cut in her shoulder and she instead jumped as far back as far as she could. She ducked a swing that nearly decapitated her. She then moved in for an uppercut.

"Not bad…" Simon brought his free hand up to block the punch, though it still hit his chin, it did soften the blow. "But not good enough."

SHING

"AH! ARGH!!!"

"…" Quick as a flash, Simon hacked off Night-Princess' arm and nearly decapitated her again, but she jumped back enough to reduce it to a mere cut on her neck. _"Got her!" _Simon lunged forward as Night-Princess jumped against the window and hit it.

"!!!" Night-Princess barely moved to the right fast enough to prevent the blade from piercing her heart, instead piercing her lung. _"I… I nearly got killed… right there…"_ She thought in shock. The sword had gone all the way through her to pierce the safety-glass window behind her and leave a slight crack.

"You're not half-bad kid." Simon complimented.

"I'm not finished…" Night-Princess let her shades slide down to reveal her eyes, she stared in to Simon's eyes with an orange and red glow. "Leave me be… and go to sleep…"

"…" Simon looked in to her eyes. He began to sweat profusely. "N… no… NO!!!" Simon backed away, drawing his blade out. "I have too much to prove!"

"_What willpower!!!"_ Night-Princess thought in shock. Simon was about to slice her in half with a vertical slice, but she suddenly summoned a swarm of bats that flew right at Simon.

"Whoa!" This surprised Simon and distracted him long enough for Lisa to sublimate and slip through the crack in the glass. Not having a lot of energy, she reformed almost as soon as she got out and free-fell through the air. "NO!!!" Simon dropped the katana, and pulled out a moderately sized club, jumped and spun twice in the air before striking the window on the crack with the club.

CRASH

Simon shattered the window, dropped the club, pulled out a few small throwing knives and hurled them downward.

"…" Night-Princess had to use another inhaler, she watched the throwing knives come down. She then transformed in to a swarm of bats and flew off.

"Grrrr…" Simon growled at this. He was about to turn away from the window when he noticed something far down below. He looked out the window and thought he saw a kid in completely white clothing looking up at him from a rooftop. Simon blinked once and the kid was gone. "Damn… I'll be lucky not to get fired." He groaned.

Meanwhile…

"Yeah, I'm finally done Myra." Stacy said as she walked out of the store and got in her car. She braced the phone between her head and shoulder as she turned the key. "Hm? Oh man… my car isn't starting!!!"

"Can your mom pick you up?" Myra asked.

"No… she's too far…" Stacy sighed.

"My parents would be willing to come and pick you up."

"Oh thank god…" Stacy sighed. "I'll call you later. Kay?"

"Okay, later Stacy." Myra said.

"…" Stacy got out of her car and sat at the bench right outside the flower shop. "Hm?" Her earring mysteriously fell off and bounced down an alleyway. "Hey! My dad gave those to me before he died…" She got up and walked down the nearby alley. The earring was right in front of a manhole that was partially open. "There it is…"

"…"

"Is someone there?" Stacy thought she heard breathing and was so shocked by it that she accidentally knocked the earring down the manhole. "Nooooo…" Stacy looked around and sighed. She took the cover off the manhole cover and climbed down.

A little while later…

"Whew…"

"Wow… that guy got you pretty good." Night-Claw winced as he looked at Night-Princess. "Just take a bit more formula. You heal faster whenever you're less thirsty."

"You're right." Night-Princess sighed. All three of them were in the same alley Stacy was in a moment ago.

"We need to find out more about this guy… which we can probably do now. Thankfully the bugs still got planted." Night-Roller said. "Come on guys, we've had enough for one night."

"You're right." Night-claw said. "Hm? It smells like another person climbed down here…" Night-claw said.

"Don't worry about it." Night-Princess sighed. "If we see anyone I can make them forget about us."

"You sure you're all right with that?" Night-Roller asked.

"Yeah I'm sure."

"Okay then." All three of them climbed down the manhole.

Later…

"Found it…" Stacy had been trudging through the sludge of the sewer to find her earring. "Ew…" It's as if she just now realized where she had been. She climbed up on to one of the walkways for the sewer workers. "Great, now I'm going to need one heck of a shower." Stacy sighed as she leaned against the wall. "Hm?" The section of wall her shoulder leaned on sunk in a little bit and soon the whole wall moved. "No way…" Stacy looked at this in bewilderment. "This is awesome…" Stacy walked in and soon the wall shut behind her.

"I could have sworn I just heard something." Night-Claw said as the three of them came around the corner on the walkway a few minutes later.

"You smell anything?" Night-Roller asked.

"Only Night-Princess' blood sadly, and this sewer."

"Sorry…" Night-Princess said as Night-Roller pushed on a section of wall that caused the whole wall to slide open. The three of them walked in.

A few minutes later they were at the small rail car that would take them to Joseph's house. Felix lowered his mask while Joseph took off his helmet. "Okay, strap in you two." Joseph said as the three of them took their seats. Joseph hit the start button, and soon the rail car started. They sat silently for a few minutes.

"…" Felix suddenly looked out the front. "Joseph… is that someone on the rails…?"

"What? That shouldn't be… Oh shoot…"

"Hm?" Stacy wasn't sure how to work the rail car from earlier so she instead opted to walk down the rails, which seemed to go on forever. "AH!" Stacy turned around to see the rail car approaching.

"No!"

"Stop it dad!" Lisa shouted.

"I know!" Joseph pulled a lever that read "EMERGENCY BRAKE". "We're not slowing down fast enough!"

"We'll hit her!" Felix shouted.

"…" Stacy looked around desperately before she noticed the railing. She leaned down and touched it with her hand.

"What's she doing?" Felix asked.

BAM

"WHOA!!!" The car slowed down drastically before stopping.

"What was that sound?" Lisa asked.

"It sure didn't sound like us hitting a human being…" Joseph said. The three of them got out of the car. "More like hitting a solid chunk of…"

"Metal…" Felix said. All three of them stared at the body on the ground. A teenage girl in a florist's outfit was lying on the ground, and she was completely made of metal, her hair, her eyelids, her nails, everything. "What the…"

"A… metal woman?" Lisa asked.

"At any rate… we better bring her back to make sure she's okay." Joseph sighed. "Oy what a night…"

"Got that right…" Felix said as she stooped over to pick the girl up.

"What are we going to do with her?" Lisa asked.

"I don't know… she's kind of heavy." Felix sighed.

"Come on… let's go." Joseph said as they all climbed back in to rail car.

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With so many things happening in one night, what are the consequences? Leave a review.


	4. Stacy

Chronicles of the Dusk

When we last left off, the Night-Hunters execute their plan to plant bugs in Traxon's systems in order to watch over his activities. Night-Princess barely gets away with her life after a confrontation with Simon Boulder. On the way home, the Night-Hunters unexpectedly run in to Stacy, knocked unconscious and possessing a body of metal. What happens next? Read on.

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel Comics, I do own my original characters and the plot.

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Stacy

"..." Lisa was in normal clothing again, tightening the bandages around her neck, feeling the bandages underneath her shirt, and nursing her severed arm. The bleeding has stopped, but since it was removed by a silver sword the healing was drastically slower. She took another inhaler and looked at her bed.

On the bed the metal girl they found was lying there still unconscious. Lisa found her heartbeat to be really interesting since it had such a low sound to it. Lisa couldn't help but wonder who she was or why she was even in the tunnel in the first place. _"I hope she won't be too freaked out when she wakes up."_

In another room...

Joseph and Felix were in Joseph's mixing room where he also had his computer. Felix was pacing back and forth, his hand shaking, while Joseph was sitting at his computer typing in who knows what.

"Finally... the bugs are officially working." Joseph said. "First thing's first, to find out about that guy Lisa got in a fight with."

"Yeah that is important to figure out." Felix said, hardly paying attention.

"But what I'm worried about is the fact that they have Lisa's arm. Traxon has the resources, he might be able to figure out who Lisa is now." Joseph said, wincing at the thought.

"Nah, there's no chance." Felix responded nonchalantly.

"What?"

"Even though that Danvers woman is watching over S.H.I.E.L.D. now, we're still S.H.I.E.L.D. protected." Felix explained. "If anyone tries to take a fingerprint, DNA test, or even so much as look up your MySpace, S.H.I.E.L.D. will know about it and stop it if needed instantly."

"That's good to know." Joseph said.

"..." Felix didn't respond and continued pacing.

"Felix are you listening?" Joseph asked.

"Sort of…" Felix said. "I was just thinking about that girl."

"Right, that's another thing. We need to figure out what to do when she wakes up." Joseph said. There was a brief pause after this. "You weren't thinking about that at all were you?"

"No." Felix admitted. "I used a few of my tools to see if she really was alive, and based on my analysis… well, the way her body works is really really interesting."

"Say what?" Joseph asked.

"Okay, melting point, freezing point, and boiling point of all substances isn't determined only by temperature." Felix started. "Pressure plays a large part in it as well. On the outside, her body is a very durable steel like the railings in the tunnel, it really is thick my tools could barely get readings of her internal organs and such."

"And…"

"Now here's the really interesting part. Her internal organs and everything else are metallic as well."

"How does that work? How does her heart still beat?" Joseph asked.

"The pressure inside her body is great enough to cause her internal organs such as her heart, lungs, stomach, and even her brain are malleable." Felix explained. "They're still made of steel but the pressure is causing them to be malleable, and even though her blood is also metal her blood is experiencing so much pressure that is liquefied."

"Whoa whoa whoa..." Joseph said. "Two things, if everything becomes made of metal how does her blood carry oxygen?"

"It's not like I know everything. I'd need to run experiments and I'm not about to do that against someone's will." Felix said. "What's the second thing?"

"I'm more interested in how she does this." Joseph said. "And I'm also more interested in what she was doing down there and all of that."

"Sorry, the chemist geek inside me got hold of me for a moment." Felix said. "We are going to have to question her when she wakes up."

"Exactly." Joseph said. "Though, let's be easy about it, she's likely to be confused when she wakes up."

"Dad! Felix!" Lisa shouted, running in to the room.

"Is she awake?" Felix asked.

"Well, she's waking up and... she's not made of steel anymore." Lisa explained.

"Okay, Felix you think you could bring her downstairs?" Joseph asked. "Lisa and I will be waiting."

"Okay, I can do that." Felix sighed, putting his gloves on to conceal his fingers.

Meanwhile...

"Mmmmm..." Stacy moaned as she stirred. "Hm?" Stacy sat up with a start and looked around with a start. "Oh snap... where am I?" Stacy got out of the bed and pulled out her phone. She selected her speed dial number for Myra's phone and put the phone to her ear. She shook nervously as the phone rang.

"Whoa whoa whoa..." Felix came up behind her, grabbed the phone and hit the close button.

"AH!" Stacy gasped backing off nervously.

"I'm not here to hurt you..." Felix reassured. "But I'm afraid you're going to have to wait before making any phone calls." Felix told her. "Wait a second…"

"What?" Stacy asked.

"You're that girl that got shot the other day at the mall." Felix said suspiciously.

"Uh… what… mall?" Stacy asked nervously.

"You were at a clothing store during a hold up and when I tried to take the guy down…"

"Wait that was you!? So it was your fault!" Stacy accused.

"Now here's my question, why are you still here in perfect health?" Felix asked.

"…"

"And more importantly… how were you made of steel a moment ago while you were asleep." Felix said, a smile crossing his face as he heard her heartbeat pick up its pace.

"Uh… well uh… wait a second… what about that weird tunnel in the sewers!? Is that yours? Why do you have something like that?" Stacy asked.

"Let's make a deal," Felix started "You come with me, and you answer a few questions for us, and then we might be able to answer your questions."

"How can I trust you?" Stacy asked.

"Everything will be a whole lot clearer if you just come downstairs." Felix said. "My way or the highway."

"…" Stacy sighed and walked out of the room, Felix leading her towards the stairs.

Meanwhile…

"…" Simon walked in to a room, he immediately ducked a punch, spun behind the guy who threw and ridge handed him in the neck. He then turned his body to grab a punch, grab the other guy around the neck and throw him forward in to the other guy. "So, this mean I'm fired?" Simon asked.

"…" Traxon stepped forward and looked at Simon with a smile. "Well… if your life were endangered, would you kill me men?"

Click…

Simon stood silently as he felt two gun barrels pressed to his head. "That depends, am I fired or not?"

"Hm hm hm hm…" Traxon chuckled. "Put the guns down boys." The security guards obeyed and left the room, rubbing their sore spots. "I'll admit, I was hoping you'd kill her, but the fact is that they're not easy targets."

"…" Simon stood there and listened patiently.

"The fact that you removed her arm and punctured a lung is impressive enough as it is." Traxon said. "In short, no, you're not fired."

"Good. Because next time you won't be disappointed." Simon said before turning to leave the room.

"I have every confidence that I won't be." Traxon said. He pulled out his personal cell phone and dialed a number. "What are the results? Have you figured anything out about the girl?"

"No sir, they're S.H.I.E.L.D. protected, if we went any further S.H.I.E.L.D. would have been on us in ten minutes."

"I see… oh and how did the florist shop deal go?"

"She still won't sell."

"I see." Traxon said. "Well then, teach her a lesson." Traxon said. He hung up and then dialed another number. "Yes hello? I need you to arrange a few things for me."

Meanwhile…

Lisa and Joseph sat on the couch, Lisa hiding her severed arm behind a cushion, while Felix sat in one of the living room chairs. Stacy sat in the other one, looking around at all three of them.

"Okay… first of all, who are you?" Joseph asked.

"How do I know you won't hurt me?" Stacy asked.

"You have my word on it." Felix said, trying to reassure her. "Now who are you?"

"Stacy…. Stacy Nox." She answered. "Now who are you guys?"

"Uh…" Felix thought for a minute.

"And why would you have a tunnel like that underground?" Stacy asked. "If it's a big secret no sweat, I keep a pretty big secret myself." Stacy continued.

"Og…" Joseph groaned.

"I… think we ought to tell her." Lisa said.

"What?"

"We know hers… it's only fair." Lisa said, she knocked the pillow over and revealed her arm.

"Oh my God! What happened to your arm?!" Stacy asked with a mixture of shock and disgust.

"I got in a fight with someone tonight." Lisa said.

"You see… we're… we're uh… well…" Felix started.

"We're the Night-Hunters." Joseph finally said.

"…" Stacy sat there with her mouth open for a minute. "Oh… my… God…" She finally uttered. "This is… absolutely amazing!" She said excitedly. "You guys are the Night-Hunters! You must be the guy with the claws!" She said, pointing at Felix.

"I have a name you know…" Felix sighed. "It's Felix."

"I'm Joseph."

"As in Joseph Brown? The rap star High Roller? You're the guy in the skates?! AWESOME!!! And you must be Lisa, I always thought you were a blonde though, is the blonde hair a wig?" Stacy asked, growing more excited as she went on.

"Uh… yes…" Lisa answered.

"Oh I've always thought you were so cute! I mean look at you…"

"Okay okay okay! Calm down!" Felix said. "Sheesh, I almost prefer the people who would throw bottles at us." He sighed.

"Now what were you doing in our tunnel?" Joseph asked Stacy.

"Honestly, that was a complete accident. I lost my earring and then I leaned against the wall and the wall opened up." Stacy said. Joseph looked at Felix.

"She's not lying." Felix said. "The odds of someone finding the wall would be 5,487,011 to one eh Joseph?" Felix asked, clearly taunting him.

"Okay…" Joseph sighed. "And more importantly… how did you turn to metal like that in the tunnel?"

"Oh well… that's my secret, I'm a mutant." Stacy said.

"You are?" Lisa asked.

"Yeah, watch." Stacy tilted her head to the side to allow one of her diamond earrings to touch the side of her head. Starting from where the diamond was touching her, her skin began to turn diamond. When it was done, her hair, eyes, and everything minus her clothing was made of diamond, it was somewhat blinding to look at her in this light.

"Whoa…" Felix and Lisa said in awe.

"Whatever I'm touching, I can change my body in to it." Stacy said. "It works on water too."

"THAT explains the mall scene." Felix said.

"Does anyone else know about this?" Joseph asked.

"My mom, and my best friend Myra. But they both keep it a secret." Stacy said. "It was chaotic when my powers began working, I was turning in to nearly everything I touched. But I learned to control it since then."

"You can turn in to liquid too? What happens to your internal organs when that happens? And what about the diamond form here? How does that…" Felix began asking.

"Felix." Joseph started.

"Sorry." He sat down.

"I only stay like this for twenty minutes tops." Stacy said. "But I can change back anytime I want." She said before turning back to normal.

"…" Joseph sat silently for a moment. "Now here's what I want to know." Joseph started. "Stacy, can you keep a secret?"

"Of course I can." Stacy said. "I've kept mine for three years, I can keep yours too. And so can Myra."

"Don't tell your friend please… and you don't keep a diary do you?" Felix asked.

"No, I gave up my diary a long time ago." Stacy said. "And I tell Myra everything."

"I don't think that'll work." Felix said.

Ring…

"Hm?" Stacy pulled out her phone and checked the caller ID. "It's Myra. Oh no! That's right I was supposed to wait on her parents back at the shop!"

"Argh…" Felix groaned.

"She has to answer that…" Lisa sighed.

"Go ahead…" Joseph sighed.

"Myra? I'm here?"

"Stacy where are you!?" Myra asked on the other end.

"She's worried." Both Lisa and Felix said, clearly having heard that.

"I told my parents I'd call your mom. But tell me where you are first." Myra practically demanded.

"Uh well… Myra I'm…" Stacy looked at the three Night-Hunters. Felix shook his head no, Lisa nodded, and after a pause Joseph gave a reluctant nod.

"Are your parents even around?" Stacy asked.

"No I called them to check in with them and they told me about you." Myra said.

"I met the Night-Hunters…" Stacy said in a low, excited whisper.

"What?! Are you joking!? Oh my God!"

"…" Felix groaned.

"I'm not kidding! Seriously." Stacy said.

"How did that happen?" Myra asked.

"Look, we can talk later…" Stacy said. "First I'd like to know what to do about your parents."

"Um… okay I've got an idea I can tell them. Just… see if you can't get to my house." Myra said.

"Okay, can do." Stacy said. "Bye." They both hung up. "Can I get a ride home?"

"I can give you one." Felix sighed.

"You don't trust me do you?" Stacy asked him.

"Sorry, I'm just, tense I guess." Felix sighed.

"Hey, listen guys I'm sorry, I guess I really shouldn't have wondered in to that tunnel." Stacy apologized.

"It's okay." Joseph said. "But hey, I'd thank you greatly not to tell anyone else besides that friend of yours about this."

"Now we are including her friend?" Felix asked confused.

"She already knows where she's been." Joseph pointed out.

"Right, excuse me, I've got to go put gas in the car, I have a gallon I can use." Felix said, walking out the door.

"And I need some shut eye." Joseph said. "Hey Stacy… take care of yourself okay?" Joseph asked.

"Sure thing, and it was nice meeting you." Stacy said.

"Hey um…"

"Hm?" Stacy turned to look at Lisa. "What is it?"

"You really think I'm that cute?" Lisa asked.

"Of course I do." Stacy said in a cheery tone.

"What was it like growing up with your power?" Lisa asked.

"Oh well… here. You have something to write with?" Stacy asked.

"Just a second…" Lisa said. A bat fluttered in with a pencil and small slip of paper in its claws.

"Oh jeez!" Stacy shrieked.

"Thank you Cynthia." Lisa said.

"Okay…" Stacy said, getting over it. "Let me tell you my number…" Stacy said, leaning in to whisper in to Lisa's ear.

A minute later Stacy walked outside and found Felix waiting in the car. "Okay, I'm ready.

"Hey listen… I really am sorry if I was harsh with you." Felix told her.

"Hey, you're my lift home. So don't worry about it." Stacy said.

"If you say so." Felix sighed, turning the car on.

"So who's the woman you were with at the mall?" Stacy asked.

"My… girlfriend." Felix answered reluctantly.

"She know you're a mutant too?" Stacy asked.

"I'm not a mutant." Felix said.

"What?"

"I got my powers in an accident." Felix told her as he drove towards the gate. He stopped to press in an access code. "But no, she doesn't know."

"Shouldn't she know?" Stacy asked.

"Don't make me ask about your personal life." Felix said.

"Sorry."

"…" Felix stayed silent after that. _"Man… her powers… it's like a chemical mystery… oi… better not think about it. I don't want to ask any odd questions." _

The next morning…

"HA! HIYAH!!!" Simon was performing martial arts routines by himself in the gym he trained in with the martial artists. "Whew…" He stopped to grab a drink of water before heading for the gym bag. Other equipment in the room included a treadmill, a push-up mat, and a vaulting horse.

"Mr. Boulder." Woodrow said, coming in to the room.

"What is it?" Simon asked as he pounded away on the bag vigorously.

"The tapes on the Night-Hunters you asked for are ready." Woodrow said.

"Excellent." Simon said.

"You really do workout quite ferociously sir." Woodrow commented.

"You bet, I could go for the Olympics if I wanted to." Simon said as he walked out of the room.

Meanwhile…

Ding

"Yes may I help y… oh." Stacy's mom turned to greet whoever walked in before she realized it was the same man who kept asking her to sell the flower shop.

"Mrs. Nox, I'm here to ask you one more time to sell the store to us. Mr. Traxon honestly believes this could be quite profitable for both you and him." The man said.

"I already told you, I'm not interested in having my flower shop becoming a corporate subsidiary. The answer is still no regardless of how much you're willing to offer." Mrs. Nox answered.

"I see." The man sighed. "Well, that's that then. We won't persist." The man said.

"Thank you." Mrs. Nox said as she went to the back room. Once she was back there, the man snuck behind the desk and slid his briefcase underneath it before he walked out of the florist shop, looking at his watch as he did so.

Meanwhile…

"Thanks for giving me a lift Stacy." Myra said as she got out of Stacy's car.

"Not a problem Myra, now I better get going, Mom is going to be expecting me at the shop soon." Stacy said.

"It must be nice to be able to get along with your mom so well." Myra said. "I mean sure, I don't fight with my parents, but you and your mom just… well you just bond so well."

"Hey, you and mom are the only people who know my secret." Stacy said.

"Well, they do now." Myra said with obvious emphasis on the word 'they'. "I still can't believe you actually met them."

"Well believe it." Stacy said. "I even gave Lisa my number if she ever felt like calling."

"You think she will?" Myra asked.

"Hey, girls need to talk to girls every now and then." Stacy said. "See you later."

Meanwhile…

"Hey dad." Lisa walked in to Joseph's music room. Joseph was playing some music fairly loudly as he went through a whole bunch of text on his computer. "How's the new song coming?"

"Good. I can't think of any lyrics though." Joseph answered, still rummaging through all of incoming text.

"How's the manager hunt coming?" Lisa asked.

"The record company keeps finding these guys, and I've so far turned them all down." Joseph said.

"And the bugs?"

"Working like a charm, I just wish we could have somehow bugged Traxon's cell phone, the only times I pick up any cell phone calls is when he uses it to call some department or another." Joseph said. "I've mostly been looking up what I could find on that guy that attacked you. Apparently his name his Simon Boulder."

"It is?" Lisa asked, looking at her arm, which was now beginning to reach the wrist.

"From the application sent in, he knows at least Karate and Tai Kwon Do, but still…"

"What?" Lisa asked.

"I don't know, I couldn't see as clearly as possible, but from I could tell he was using more than that…" Joseph said.

"Wait… what's that?" Lisa asked as a completely new window popped up above the others. Joseph looked at it for a moment, immediately his look changed to a completely horror struck one.

"Oh no… where's my phone? I've got to call Felix now!" Joseph said frantically, searching his desk until he found his phone.

"Isn't he out with Elaine right now?" Lisa asked.

"That's not as important as this." Joseph said as he dialed.

Meanwhile…

RING

"Is that your phone?" Elaine asked before taking a bite out of her salad. She and Felix were eating at a diner at a table outside.

"Jeez, I thought I told him not to call me." Felix moaned. "Hello? I'm kind of…"

"Felix, do you know where Nox's Florist is!?" Joseph asked quickly.

"Yes." Felix said, he could hear Joseph's heartbeat on the other end, something was definitely wrong.

"Get over there now! I'll talk to you over the radio as you go!"

"Okay…" Felix sighed before hanging up. "I'm sooooo sorry Elaine, but something urgent came up." Felix said, leaving behind some money. "Here I'll catch up later."

"But Felix…" Elaine started when Felix darted off, jumping the gate around the dining area and running down the street. "Why'd he leave his car?"

Later…

Felix was jumping rooftops, removing his clothing to reveal his costume underneath as he went. When he was done he pulled up his mask. "Okay what is it Night-Roller?"

"Traxon has been trying to buy that shop for the last few weeks and he's finally sick of getting no as an answer. He's going to blow it up!"

"WHAT!!! Oh that bastard… okay I'm going to hot foot it now!" Night-Claw said, now jumping over the rooftops with a hastened pace.

Back at Joseph's…

"Wait, did you say it was Nox's Florist?" Lisa asked.

"Yeah… wait a second…"

"That was Stacy's last name!" Lisa shouted before running out of the room.

"That Stacy girl. NIGHT-CLAW YOU BETTER MOVE IT!!!" Joseph shouted.

"I heard! I'm moving I'm moving!" Night-Claw responded.

"Oh where did I put her number?!" Lisa asked desperately as she went through her room as quickly as she could before running downstairs.

Meanwhile…

"Hey mom!" Stacy said, walking in to the florist shop.

"Hey Stacy." Her mom replied. "Stacy do you think you could water some of the plants for me?"

"Sure." Stacy said, picking up a watering can and going by the shelves.

"Anyways, sorry I couldn't get home last night." Her mom said.

"It's okay." Stacy said, smiling as she thought about last night.

"We got a few more seeds in could you stock them for me when you're done? I need to make sure we have all of the gardening tools available."

"Can do."

Meanwhile…

"When's the bomb supposed to go off?!" Night-Claw asked.

"From what I know the bomb is set to go off in an hour and… he got there fifty-five minutes ago!"

"CRAP!!!" Night-Claw cursed as he kept jumping. "I'm a few minutes away, I might still make it!" Night-Claw shouted.

Meanwhile…

"Where is it where is it where is it?" Lisa asked frantically as she and a swarm of bats and rats kept rooting through the room. Finally one of the bats flew up to Lisa with the paper in its claws. "Oh thank you Cynthia!" Lisa got out her phone and dialed the number on it.

A minute later…

RING

"Hm?" Stacy pulled out her phone and checked the caller ID. It wasn't a known number but Stacy decided to answer it anyways. "Hello?"

"Stacy!"

"Oh hey Lis…"

"STACY!!! You need to leave that shop now! You're in danger!"

"What?" Stacy asked, confused.

"That guy that wanted the store wants to blow it up!"

"Are you serious!?" Stacy asked, her heart rate increasing. "MOM!!!" Stacy touched her finger to one of the iron shelves and transformed in to iron.

"Stacy what are you…"

Beep beep beep beep

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

"Oh my god!!!"

"What the hell is that!"

A tremendous explosion blew right through the windows of the florist shop, igniting the place and catching it on fire.

Inside of it, Stacy stood where she was, she herself unharmed but a good portion of her outer clothing burnt away. She looked at the devastated store and looking at her mom, lying on the floor burnt beyond recognition. "No… no…" Stacy hit her knees. "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!" She shrieked.

"Hey!!! Is anyone in there!"

"…" Stacy didn't answer, she simply turned around and went to the back of the store, walking right through the flames.

CRASH

She punched right through the now weakened brick walling and walked right in to a back alley. She returned to normal, the moment she did tears leaked from her eyes and she hit the ground, pounding against it. "No… no no no no no…"

"…" Night-Claw was close by, watching her with sympathy. "Stacy…"

"Hm?" Stacy looked up. "F… Night-Claw…" Stacy said, catching herself. "Go away!"

"Stacy…" Night-Claw walked up closer.

"I SAID GO AWAY!!!" Stacy touched the brick wall of the next building and turned herself to stone before throwing a punch at Night-Claw. Night-Claw leaned his head back far enough to let her hit his cheek, but it prevented it from hurting too badly. "Oh… oh I'm sorry…"

"Change back…" Night-Claw said. "I can tell you can't cry if you're not human."

"Oh… she's really dead isn't she!?" Stacy wailed, changing back and letting her head hit his shoulder.

"…" Night-Claw tried to comfort her with a light hug. "I'm sorry… come on… we shouldn't be here for when the police arrive."

"Okay… oh what will I do now?"

"I don't know." Felix said. He grabbed Stacy, and then jumped up the nearest building.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well that's the next chapter for you.

P.S. This story will go on hiatus once I am finished with this first story arc. With the new roster of Brawl having at last been finalized, I'm going to continue "Super Smash Exams" soon.


	5. Vengeance

Chronicles of the Dusk

When we last left off, Stacy became acquainted with the Night-Hunters and revealed her mutant power. Such an exciting night for Stacy changed to tragedy when Traxon had her families' florist shop destroyed. Now left parentless, what will Stacy do? And how will the Night-Hunters react to this? And what about Simon, is he ready for the next confrontation with the Night-Hunters?

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel comics, I do own my characters and the plot.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vengeance

RING

"Oh jeez..." Myra was sitting at a table reading a book on computers when her phone rang. "Hello? I'm at the library..." Myra said quietly in to her phone.

"Myra it's your mother! Where's Stacy!?"

"Stacy... she went to work..." Myra answered.

"No! Oh God this isn't happening..."

"What happened?" Myra asked.

At another home...

"I don't believe this..." A man in a home's kitchen said, pacing back and forth while the woman was on the phone.

"Oh please let her be alright..."

"Blew up!? Are you serious!? Why would the store blow up? Oh my God Stacy..." Myra moaned on the other end.

DING-DONG

"Oh who is it now?" Myra's dad asked, going to the door. "Holy..."

"She said she had friends here..." Felix was back in his civilian clothes standing behind Stacy.

"Mr. Orwell..." Stacy started.

"I heard." He said.

"Is Myra still at the library?" Stacy asked.

"Yes. Tamera! Stacy's okay!"

"She is? Oh thank God... Myra, Stacy was brought to our house."

"She's there. Oh... okay I'm going to see if I can't get a cab home." Myra said, hanging up.

"Thank you so much..." Myra's dad told Felix.

"It was nothing." Felix said. "I don't know if I'm the one to tell you this but... her mother didn't make it, it's a miracle she's here now." Felix told Mr. Orwell.

"Oh..." He moaned. "Is there anything we can do to thank you Mr..."

"Thomas... and no, I was just passing through and I found Stacy out back." Felix said. "I have to go." Felix said, walking back towards his red convertible, where Elaine was waiting for him.

"Wow Felix... that was brave of you." Elaine told Felix when he got back in the car.

"It would have been better if I could have done something more." Felix said, rubbing that spot on his cheek where Stacy hit him earlier, it was bruised.

"How did you get that nasty bruise though?" Elaine asked.

"Don't ask." Felix told Elaine as he started the car and drove off. "I'm sorry that our last two dates out ended up the same way. A disaster."

"Hey, I can't blame you for this crazy town. I'm more surprised we ran in to the same girl." Elaine sighed somewhat uncomfortably. "You think she's a mutant?"

"I don't know..." Felix lied. "And what if she is?"

"Felix you know that... well..."

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked, I know where you're coming from." Felix sighed.

Meanwhile...

"..." Joseph was at home sitting at the dining room table, rubbing his head with a defeated look on his face.

"Dad don't blame yourself..." Lisa said to Joseph. "Please? At least Stacy made it." Lisa said, trying to console Joseph.

"But what now?" Joseph asked. "I could have found out about that earlier... we might have been able to stop it... oh what's going to happen to that girl?"

"Dad it isn't your fault." Lisa persisted.

Meanwhile...

"You wanted to see me Mr. Traxon?" Simon asked as he walked in to Traxon's office.

"Yes Simon." Traxon said. "Do you have everything you'll need for your next confrontation?"

"Yes, I'm ready for each of them." Simon said.

"Good, I just want to make it clear that the next time you confront them that I will expect you to succeed." Traxon told Simon.

"Of course." Simon said. "If that's all, I'm going to get back to working out." Simon then turned around and walked out of the office.

"Hmmmmmmm..." Traxon smiled "I wonder what their next move will be."

Later...

"Well, here we are." Myra and Stacy were in Stacy's room at her house, holding a suitcase and a black trash bag. "..."

"..." Stacy knew what this meant now. There weren't any close-by relatives she had, and a long time ago it was decided that her godparents were to be Myra's parents. Sure it meant that Myra and she could actually live in the same house, but still, she never thought it would happen like this.

"We better get started." Myra said, breaking the silence. The two of them started going around the room, every now and then Myra would ask if Stacy wanted to bring this or that, Stacy would answer if she wasn't busy thinking or putting something in a bag. Finally Stacy just sat down on her bed and began to sob. "Oh Stacy…"

"Oh Myra… first Dad dies overseas, and now Mom… Myra I don't know what to do!" Stacy cried.

"Stacy." Myra sat down next to Stacy and tried to comfort her friend with a hug. "Stacy this isn't like you… please don't cry, you're always the one to cheer me up remember?" Myra tried to say, starting to tear up herself.

"Myra, my parents are dead, they're dead and they can't come back… I… I…" The two friends sat their for the next several minutes hugging each other trying to bring them comfort.

"Stacy… come on, what did you always say you'd be one of these days?" Myra asked her friend, drying up her tears.

"I… I said I'd be a hero…" Stacy said. "Someone… someone to make my parents proud to have a mutant child."

"Don't say it like that… you make it sound like they weren't proud of you. You know they were." Myra said.

"I know…" Stacy said. "I… I still can't believe it." The two slowly got up and resumed grabbing Stacy's things. Stacy opened her dresser and looked inside of it. She looked back at Myra, who had her back turned, and then she looked back at the drawer. She got a dark look in her eyes before she slowly took out what was in the drawer and put it in the bag.

Meanwhile…

Simon had left the gym about half an hour ago, he had a towel around his neck and he was drinking bottled water. He got to the room he was staying in and looked at one of the walls. The wall he looked at had numerous weapons, bo staves, katanas, nunchaku, pouches that had throwing stars and throwing knives, maces, different electroshock weapons, and grappling guns.

Simon looked over all of the weapons carefully, contemplating which ones he'd end up using tonight. _"I have to say, this has to be the first time I've been excited in a long time. I will accomplish something tonight. I know I will."_

Elsewhere…

Felix and Elaine were sitting at a bench in the park to try and get some peace and quiet. "You okay Felix?" Elaine asked.

"Well, I will be I guess." Felix answered. "It's just… I know what it's like to lose a mom you were close to."

"Felix, you did what you could for the girl." Elaine reassured Felix.

"I sure don't feel like it, I feel like I could have done something more." Felix said, knowing that Elaine couldn't know where he was coming from on this point. Not that it was her fault, after all he is the one who hasn't told her his secret.

"You know Felix, maybe you did just enough." Elaine said. "Sometimes those small things end up helping out more than you think."

"Heh… you know, you're right." Felix said. "Sheesh, I knew that when Lisa was going through the same thing, and yet here I am having to be told that now."

"Hey, don't be all that surprised, I have to remind you not to forget your car keys sometimes." Elaine teased.

"Okay okay…" Felix said. "How about we walk around a bit?"

"Why not?" Elaine responded as she and Felix stood up and started walking.

Later…

"Dad…" Lisa came downstairs where Joseph was trying to distract himself by checking up on his equipment. "Dad please cheer up."

"Lisa, I'm fine…"

"Dad I can tell when you're lying, and not just because your heartbeat jumped." Lisa said somewhat sternly. "Come on Dad… it's really not your fault."

"…" Joseph stopped messing with his equipment for a moment. "Lisa, I… there has to have been something I could have done."

"Well Dad… maybe if I got her number sooner nothing would have happened but… I feel bad about it and… well I…" Lisa paused to straighten herself out. "I guess it doesn't matter if there was something I could have done. There has to be something we can do now."

"…" Joseph was amazed at what he just heard. "Aw man… and I thought I was supposed to be the one teaching you this kind of stuff." Joseph turned around, bent down and gave Lisa a hug. "You're right… I should figure out what to do now instead of what I could have done."

"You're smart Dad, you'll figure something out." Lisa said.

"So… what do you have in mind then?" Felix asked from the stairs.

"You just get back?" Joseph asked.

"Yeah I did." Felix answered. "Don't worry about Stacy, that friend of hers… Myra was it? Well her parents will be able to handle Stacy's affairs. So what now for us?"

"We can talk about that." Joseph said. "Come on, let's get upstairs to see if we can't find out anything else from the bugs, we can talk while looking over the info."

"Sounds good to me." Felix said.

"How's Elaine?" Lisa asked.

"She's doing fine, fine enough to help me out." Felix said as all three of them went upstairs.

Later that night…

"Hey Stacy…" Myra walked in to her bedroom. The closet was open and a few of Stacy's things were now hanging in it. They had managed to move Stacy's bed from next door and put it on the wall opposite of Myra's bed. The window was open between their beds, letting the cool night air rush in. Myra's desk and computer were at the foot of her bed as well as the alarm clock.

"Hey Myra." Stacy said, sitting cross-legged on the bed in a pair of purple PJ's.

"You think you can sleep tonight?" Myra asked.

"I don't know if I can." Stacy said. "It… still seems so unreal."

"Hey Stacy… if there's anything I can do to help you please just tell me, you can tell me anything."

"I know I can." Stacy said. She touched the lens of Myra's glasses and from the tip of her finger turned in to glass. "After all, you've kept my secret." Stacy said. "You kept it when anyone else would have thrown me in to the nearest garbage dump." She turned back to normal and wiped away a few tears. "I mean… you and Mom were the reason I could just be so optimistic and…"

"Hey Stacy…" Myra quickly grabbed her friend's hand. "Don't worry, I'm still here. We've been best friends since before first grade, there's no way I'd abandon you."

"Thank you."

They both went to their beds. Several minutes passed before Stacy stirred. She quietly got out of her bed and went over to one of the garbage bags and rummaged through it. She pulled out some piece of clothing and then quietly slipped out of the bedroom.

"Mmmmm…" Myra stirred somewhat.

Vroom

"Hm?" Myra got up slowly. "Stacy do you hear a c… Stacy?" Myra listened carefully and heard a car slowly drive away. "Wait… she didn't!" Myra looked over at Stacy's bed to find it empty. "She did… oh no… wait… maybe." Myra looked over at her computer before getting up and going over to it.

Several minutes later…

"Hm? At this hour?" A security guard sitting in a booth outside the underground parking level of Traxon's main office building noticed a blue car pulling up. "Can I ask what your business with Mr. Traxon is?" The window rolled down to reveal someone in a hooded jacket.

"Mr. Traxon wanted to see me." A muffled female voice said.

"Oh… you must be one of Mr. Traxon's… shadier guys I guess, sorry I have to ask you to step out of the car for a second."

"…" The person obliged. The man took a handheld metal detector. The second he turned it on the detector went crazy.

"Okay, remove any metal you have on you, weapons, watches…"

"…" The person threw their jacket off to reveal a woman in somewhat baggy brown pants that had numerous pockets in them, a tight black shirt with a vertical purple strip going down the left side that left the stomach and lower back exposed, fingerless gloves with metal plates on the back, and the shirt also extended in to a tight mask that covered the mouth. The girl was completely metal.

"Holy crap…"

"Ra!" She back-handed the security guard somewhat lightly, but given that she was made of metal it was enough to knock him out cold. She then tore through the metal gate and ran in to the parking level area.

Meanwhile…

Beep beep

"Hm?" A strange window suddenly popped up on to Joseph's monitor.

"More data from the bugs?" Felix asked.

"No… it looks more like a messaging window." Joseph said.

Text soon began appearing on the window 'Is this where the Night-Hunters live?'

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Felix shouted.

"Dad… what's that?" Lisa asked.

"Hold up…" Joseph clicked the next line down and typed a response. 'Who is this?'

'Please hear me out. I am a friend of Stacy's. My name is Myra.'

"Wait… this is Stacy's friend?" Lisa asked.

'How'd you access my computer? I have blocks and firewalls that send hackers straight to federal websites to get them arrested.' Joseph typed.

"You do?" Felix asked.

"Yes I do." Joseph said.

'It wasn't easy.' Came Myra's response.

'That's impressive.' Joseph complimented.

'There isn't time for this. Stacy is in danger.'

"Danger?" All three of them asked. Joseph quickly typed the response. 'How so?'

'I woke up and found her not in her bed and I could have sworn I heard her drive off with my parent's car. I think she's going after the man who killed her mom.'

'There's no way she should know who it is. Is there?' Joseph responded.

'She's been telling me for weeks how this guy from Traxon's wouldn't leave the store alone. She knows.'

'We'll talk later. Don't worry, we'll go and save her.' Joseph said.

'Please save her. She's my best friend.'

'We're leaving now.' Joseph responded before getting up. "Suit up guys."

"She's seriously going to try to take Traxon on? She's in way over her head." Felix sighed.

"That's why we have to go!" Lisa said anxiously.

Meanwhile…

BAM BAM BAM BAM

"Nice try!" The bullets bounced off of her metallic body as she charged the gunmen. She lightly struck each one of them with only enough force to knock them unconscious.

"Mr. Traxon! We're under attack!" One of the guards radioed in. "GAH!" That was before he got knocked out.

In the building…

"An attack?" Traxon turned on a monitor that showed the parking area. "Who is this?" Traxon thought for a minute. "Wait… I can throw something new at the Night-Hunters, of course, Night-Roller could just as easily throw something new at me." He then went over to his desk. "Simon… get down to the parking level area, it looks like they took the fight to us."

Elsewhere…

"I love this song." A Hispanic truck driver was driving down when a girl stepped out in the road. "WHOA!!!

HONK HONK

BAM

"Oh crap!" The man stopped the truck and got out. He went to look at the girl he just hit. He brushed away her red hair to look at her face. "Hey kid you okay!?"

"…" Night-Princess opened her eyes and looked in to the man's eyes. "You are very drowsy tonight, you know that drowsy drivers cause more accidents, you've already checked in to the motel across the street, you'll turn in tonight and find your truck parked in front of the motel in the morning." She said.

"…" The man hypnotically crossed the street and left his truck completely abandoned.

"Rubs me wrong to do this but we need to have a tactical approach to this situation." Night-Roller got in to the truck while Night-Princess got on top of it. "Okay, I'll use this to get inside the building, Night-Princess you'll scale the buildings and check the floors for her while Night-Claw will start from the parking level."

"Right, I'm on my way." Night-Claw said over the radio.

"I'm ready." Night-Princess said as the truck continued its course.

"Good thing the information from the bugs had this truck scheduled for a delivery." Night-Roller commented.

"Unfortunately we're going to need more luck than that." Night-Claw sighed.

Meanwhile…

"…" Stacy's skin returned to normal as her hair did as well. _"That was twenty minutes… I'll have to be more careful about my timing."_ She thought. She walked toward the elevator, but before she even got close to it, the elevator opened up.

"Hm… looks like Traxon's right, it is a new one." Simon stepped out of the elevator. He was wearing camouflage pants, seemingly light weight boots, a sleeveless black shirt that seemed padded underneath it, and black gloves that were made for gripping objects tightly. He was holding a metallic bo staff, his belt had two pouches, two nunchakus tucked in to it, and something slid in horizontally behind it. On his back he had a sword in its sheath and a mace.

"No guns?" Stacy asked surprised.

"Guns have no style." Simon said as he twirled his staff a few times in one hand before taking a stance. "So what's your name?"

"I'm uh… All-Star." She answered. She reached in to one of her pockets and touched something in that pocket. "And I have a problem with your boss!" Her skin changed in to solid diamond and she then rushed Simon.

"Not good." Simon sighed. He rolled to the side to avoid a punch from All-Star. All-Star rushed Simon and kept throwing punch after punch at him, but he would avoid each punch easily. Simon ducked one punch and as he ducked by one leg he swiped his staff underneath her leg and caused her to fall forward.

"AH!" She gasped as she hit the ground face first. It didn't hurt in her diamond form, but it was surprising. She hopped up, spun around and tried throwing another punch.

"…" Simon thrust his staff and hit her under the chin before swinging it upward while it was still under her chin. He twirled it and then thrust it at her abdomen.

"Oof…" He hit her with enough force to cause her to stumble a little bit but she regained her footing and jumped forward. "Ya!" All-Star raised her fist and brought it downward.

"!!!" Simon instinctively raised his staff to block it, but the fist had enough force to bend it in the middle. "Oh you must be kidding." Simon groaned as he looked at his now ruined staff. He ditched the staff and did multiple back flips away from All-Star.

"Now out of my way!" All-Star ran forward at Simon and threw another fist.

"…" Simon side-stepped the punch, spun around, grabbed her wrist, and then pushed her forward, using her momentum against her and throwing her to the ground. "You have no training at all do you?"

"Grrrrr…" All-Star was really getting mad at him now. She thrust both of her hands in to the concrete on the ground and tore out a chunk of the concrete.

"Oh hell." Simon said.

"Rah!" Stacy threw the chunk of concrete at Simon who rolled to the side to avoid it. He got up but quickly laid down on his back to avoid a punch from All-Star. He then rolled to the side, got up quickly and jumped away as All-Star threw another punch at where he was lying. Simon took a stance with his hands somewhat cupped, and looked at her intently.

"Come on… surely you can do better than that." Simon taunted.

"Okay… fine." All-Star ran forward again only this time she threw a kick at Simon. He ducked the kick and ended up behind her. He pressed a hand against her shoulder. Every time that All-Star turned around he would always stay behind her, guided by how she'd turn based on how his hand felt. "Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…" She finally spun around wildly with her arms outstretched. He ducked under this, pulled out one of his nunchaku and swung it around one of her ankles, causing her to fall over.

"…" Simon pulled the mace off of his back and swung it straight downward. All-Star caught it with one of her hands and yanked it out of his grip. "Crap."

"HA!" She got up and shoulder barged him in to the nearest column.

"Oof…" Simon grunted. He quickly recovered and side-stepped a punch that hit the column instead. He got behind her, took a firm stance, and used a forceful kick to slam the rest of her body in to the column. He jumped away quickly and then somersaulted out of the way of another punch.

"Hold still!" All-Star ran forward and prepared a punch, however as she ran her skin began turning back to normal. "No!"

"Oh… so there's a time limit is there?" Simon confidently tucked the nunchaku away. He deflected her one punch to the side and threw a swift punch to her stomach followed by a palm-heel to the chin followed by a 540 roundhouse kick.

"AH!" All-Star managed to raise both of her arms to reduced the impact of the kick but it still had enough force to cause her to fall to the ground. "Wha… b-but how long have we been fighting?"

"Sixteen minutes give or take…" Simon said. "You know, I was hoping you'd be more of a challenge." Simon pulled a throwing knife out of one of the pouches and twirled it in his fingers for a bit. All-Star crawled back and stood up at the moment Simon threw it at her head.

"Not so fast!" Night-Claw came up behind All-Star and used his claws to deflect the knife to the side.

"F… Night-Claw…" All-Star gasped.

"You really need to stop doing that…" Night-Claw sighed.

"…" Simon looked at Night-Claw. _"Hmmm… maybe he'll be more of a challenge."_

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Stacy is on the warpath, Simon is on the way to his paycheck, and the Night-Hunters are on the move. Leave a review.


	6. Breaking Loose

Chronicles of the Dusk

When we last left off, the death of Stacy's mother has left her under the care of Myra's family. As the Night-Hunters and Traxon prepare for each other, Stacy enters the equation by going after Traxon under the alias All-Star. In spite of Stacy's mutant powers, Simon proves to be able to hold her off and he might have even killed her if not for the timely intervention of Night-Claw. How will this night unfold? Find out.

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel Comics, I do own my original characters and the plot.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Breaking Loose

"So… you came along too eh?" Simon said. "Well hopefully you'll do better than your new member over there." He added.

"She's not one of us." Night-Claw said. "And I'm not here to fight. I just came to find her and bring her back home."

"Wait… what?" All-Star protested. "I'm not leaving that easily!"

"Yes you are." Night-Claw said.

"Wait, she's not part of your team?" Simon asked.

"No she's not, and she's also leaving." Night-Claw responded.

"I owe Traxon! You hear me!?" All-Star shouted.

"You can't take on Traxon just because you have powers and a costume… where'd you even get that costume anyways?" Night-Claw asked.

"I made it… and so? Unless Traxon's a mutant I'm not worried about him at all." All-Star said.

"That guy over there isn't a mutant and he proved more than able to take you." Night-Claw said, pointing at Simon, who was standing where he was listening to this.

"Hey, sorry to break this up, but I have a job to do. So Night-Claw, care to dance?" Simon asked, pulling out both nunchaku, spinning them around before clutching both ends of them in each hand.

"Actually, no I don't care to dance right now so back off." Night-Claw said, showing his claws as a threat. All-Star noticed the metallic claws and got a gleam in her eyes. "Hey!"

"Thanks!" All-Star touched the tip of Night-Claw's nails and soon had her whole body made out of Silver-Adamantite. "Hey, whatever this metal is I like it." All-Star said.

"Don't even think about it." Night-Claw tried to grab All-Star but she easily shoved him off with her newfound strength. She ran right by Simon, who did absolutely nothing to stop her. "Hey!" Night-Claw ran for All-Star, but the moment he got close to Simon he had stop short, and somersault away from a series of nunchaku strikes.

"See ya." All-Star said as she got in the elevator.

"Why'd you let her go?!" Night-Claw asked angrily.

"I only fought her before because I thought she was one of you guys, my contract is only to protect Traxon from the Night-Hunters and to take the Night-Hunters out." Simon said. "Now then… you going to fight or stand still? Either way, I have a paycheck to earn."

"Grrrrrrrrrrr…"

Meanwhile…

"Finally, that delivery truck is late." A bunch of loading dock workers waited for the truck to back up. While they were unloading, Night-Princess jumped off of the top of the truck and landed on the side of the building as if she were landing on solid ground. She then proceeded to run up the side of the building.

"Hey driver! Could you lend a hand?!" One of the guys shouted.

"…"

"Driver?"

"Let's look." Two security guards came up and went to the driver's side of the truck. The door swung open and the security guards were hit by two energy blasts that knocked them out.

"Here it comes!" Night-Roller hopped out of the side and then jumped up to the loading doors.

"Holy crap!" The workers carrying boxes dropped their loads and scattered while some security guards pulled out electric batons.

"Nice try!" Night-Roller blasted any guards with his energy blasts before they even got close to him before he went right in to the building.

Meanwhile…

"Sir! The Night-Hunters…

"I know…" Traxon said. His giant TV screen had multiple split images, one showing Night-Claw and Simon, the other showing Night-Roller going through the hallways, and the other showing All-Star taking the elevator. "That particular elevator only goes up to the fifteenth floor, intercept the new girl there. And keep an eye out for Night-Princess."

Meanwhile…

"Okay, we don't know what this new one is capable of, so we'll hit her with these when she comes up." A bunch of guards were holding shotguns waiting by the elevator.

Ding

BAM

BAM

BAM

BAM

"Wow… I really do like this metal… I didn't even feel any of the force to that." All-Star commented. The ammunition either hit her stomach, her head, or her arms that were crossed in front of her chest, but none of the ammunitions even left the slightest indention. "Excuse me." All-Star got out of the elevator and shoved all of the gunmen to the side. "Where's your boss?"

"Uh uh… he's… t-top floor…"

"Fastest way up?" All-Star asked, bringing him closer to her face.

"T… there's an elevator on the other side of this floor that goes up to the twenty-fifth floor and another elevator from that floor to the top floor." He said, sweating profusely.

"Okay, thanks." All-Star dropped that guy, turned around and punched right through the wall and barged right through it.

"Hey!"

BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM

The other side of the wall had more gunmen to greet All-Star; however she couldn't even feel the bullets hitting her metallic skin. "Coming through!" All-Star ran right through the crowd, ignoring most of them and only shoving anyone who tried to tackle her out of the way. She then crashed right through the other wall and wound up in front of the elevator. "I'd stick around, but I don't have the time." She said before walking in to the elevator.

"Damn… she's going up."

Meanwhile…

"…"

"…"

Both Night-Claw and Simon looked at each other intently. "Ha!" Simon ran forward first, twirling his nunchaku as he ran. Simon began swinging both nunchaku skillfully in succession at Night-Claw who side-stepped them as Simon swung them.

"Heh…" Night-Claw caught one in his hand and threw a punch, Simon quickly used the other nunchaku to catch Night-Claw's arm and pull it to the side.

"Ha!" Simon quickly kicked Night-Claw in the stomach and then swung his nunchaku and hit Night-Claw across the face and then hit him with another quick kick. Night-Claw recovered quickly and ducked in fast enough to land two solid punches on Simon's chest.

"_He's decently sturdy, and that shirt is padded…"_ Night-Claw noted right before he ducked a counter attack by Simon. He back-flipped away from Simon.

"Not that easily…" Simon ran forward and swung his nunchaku at Night-Claw, who caught it. Simon quickly raised his arm to block a kick. "AH!" Night-Claw then sprung off of his other foot and scratched him on the torso with his toe-claws, which were also the same metal as his hand claws.

"Gotcha!" Night-Claw landed on all fours and then sprang forward to shoulder barge Simon. To his surprise, Simon jumped right over Night-Claw as he lunged, he then landed on his hands and sprang backwards to hit Night-Claw in the chest. "OOF!"

"Not quite." Simon moved forward again and began attacking in an aggressive yet well timed series of nunchaku attacks.

"…" Night-Claw had to stay on his toes to dodge these successive strikes, he occasionally got hit in the arms or legs, but he would manage to counter attack with light scratches, punches, or kicks. The two kept going back and forth trading blows before Night-Claw jumped away.

"Hold up!" Simon grabbed both nunchaku in one hand and used the other hand to pull out a large number of shuriken. He then began throwing them in rapid succession at Night-Claw.

"Whoa!" Night-Claw jumped towards a column, sprang off of it and went straight in to successive somersaults to avoid the large number of shuriken. "This is taking too long…"

Meanwhile…

"DOH!!!"

"AH!!!"

"OOF!!!"

"Clear out!" Night-Roller was blazing through one hallway, knocking down security guards as he went through. He ducked a rocket that was suddenly fired at him and fired a small energy blast at the man who fired it. "Okay, one way to catch up to her." Night-Roller fired a beam of energy at the ceiling and blasted a hole through it.

"Stop him!" Two guys came out with electro staves and charged him from either side.

"No time." Night-Roller ducked low and leaped through the hole as those guys crashed in to each other, staves first.

BZAP

"Ugh…"

"There he is!"

"There's no end to you guys is there?" Night-Roller asked as he began firing energy blasts left and right before blasting another hole in the ceiling and jumping through it.

Outside…

"Where are you?" Night-Princess said as she walked along the outer windows of the nineteenth floor.

"Found the girl!"

"Hm?" Night-Princess looked at her feet and saw through the window. She saw a security guard wheeling out a modern looking Gatling gun. "Uh-oh…"

RATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA

CRASH CRASH CRASH

"AH!!!" Night-Princess ran along the windows as they exploded in to shards of glass behind her heels, the bullets trailing behind her barely. She came to the edge of the building, turned the corner and continued running along the other side of the building. "Please say she's on a higher floor…" She sighed before running up to check the next floor.

Meanwhile…

"Hm?" The elevator stopped moving suddenly. "Did they cut the power? Like that'll stop me." All-Star ducked low and then leaped up.

BANG

The force of her jump caused her to jump through the roof of the elevator partially and eventually climb out. She grabbed the wall of the elevator shaft, denting the metal as she gripped it, and began climbing up slowly. She made it up to the next floor, climbed up next to the door and forced it open.

"She climbed up!?"

"Just shoot her!"

BAM BAM BAM BAM

"Hmph…" She grabbed the nearest guy and hurled him down the hall, causing him to bowl over the other guys down the hallway. "Where's the stairs!?" All-Star demanded of the nearest guy.

"Uh uh…"

"I'm waiting…" All-Star said, clenching a fist.

"Th-down that hallway and to the right…" The man said.

"Thank you." She then threw that guy in to the wall. All-Star turned down the hallway the man pointed out. She began climbing up the steps.

Meanwhile…

"Whoa!" Night-Claw barely flipped out of the way of a throwing knife as he ducked behind a column. He dived right back out from behind it, somersaulted before landing in a crouch.

"_He's pretty light on his feet, as I expected."_ Simon ran forward, throwing knife after knife. Night-Claw flipped his way past the knives as he drew closer to Simon. Simon prepared both of his nunchaku as Night-Claw made a long jump with a hand raised. Simon pulled on both ends of one nunchaku to block it.

Ching

Night-Claw used his claws to cut the chain connecting the two ends of that nunchaku. Night-Claw immediately spun to Simon's backside, scratching his side as he did so, and then kicked Simon's foot out from under him.

"Whoa!" Simon fell on to his back and nearly received a heel stomp from Night-Claw, but he pushed the foot away, rolled to his feet and took a firm stance. "Ha! Ha! Hiyah!" Simon narrowly blocked two punches from Night-Claw before spinning to Night-Claw's side and then grabbing his arm and throwing him forward.

"That won't work!" Night-Claw simply landed on his hands and sprang back on to his feet and took a stance across the room from Simon.

"…" Simon waved his arms in front of him as a sign of intimidation before taking another stance. _"I have to save the other weapons I have on me for the other two… oh well, I might fight him even better without my nunchaku."_ Simon thought. Simon ran forward and began doing multiple flips and spins in succession as he charged.

"…" Night-Claw jumped back and then to the side before lunging back in towards Simon. Simon landed from a flip just in time and used his momentum to swipe his hand at Night-Claw, intercepting a kick. The two then began rapidly exchanging punches and kicks with each other. Simon would occasionally get to Night-Claw's side to land a solid blow but Night-Claw would always manage to land a scratch or hit on Simon.

"_He's clearly faster and stronger than I am, and he's not half-bad as far as skill goes, but I just have to use my skill to my advantage…" _Simon thought as he widened his stance, ducked a punch and then thrust his palm in to Night-Claw's stomach.

"_Man, he's in about as top of shape as a man of his age, height, and build can be, and then his martial arts skills are incredible… but I am more agile than he is. Got to play to that."_ Night-Claw thought as he flipped over the top of Simon, landed behind him, and threw a kick. Simon quickly spun around and caught Night-Claw's foot, but Night-Claw sprung off of his other foot and kicked Simon across the face.

"Oof!" Simon hit the ground hard, but he got up quickly and threw his own punches. Night-Claw jumped away and then dived over Simon when Simon jumped at him with a kick. "Hm?" Simon landed close to the mace All-Star pulled out of his grip a while ago and quickly grabbed it.

Meanwhile…

"Whew…" All-Star was resting on the stairs. She had turned back to normal a while ago, she decided she had better rest a little bit so she can change substances for a while longer.

"Hey!"

"Uh-oh." All-Star dived out of the way as a bunch of guys climbed down the stairs, firing their guns down the stairwell. "…" All-Star reached in to one of her other pockets.

"Come on!" The men ran down the stairs to go after All-Star. "What?"

"Boo!" All-Star's body was now made up of water as she made her way up the stairs.

"AH!" The men fired their guns, but it did nothing to the water.

"Heh…" All-Star's water body seemed to expand around her arm and a gush of water went rushing at the two men, slamming them against the wall. Her arm then reconstructed itself before she returned to normal. "Hm? EEP!" She looked down to the landing she was resting on to find her shirt and pants still down there. "I've got to learn to be more careful about that…" She said, rushing back down quickly.

Meanwhile…

"Man… we're going to be very newsworthy after this… and not in a good way." Night-Roller sighed. He had blasted through a large number of floors at this point. His force-field still had more than seventy percent power, a few of the men did hit him with electro staves, but he did knock them out.

"There he is!" More men turned the corner and fired their guns at him.

"…" Night-Roller turned his back to the window and fired energy blasts down the hallway to knock those guys out. Another guard turned the corner with a rocket launcher. "Oh snap…"

BOOM

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" His force-field protected him from injury but the explosion sent him flying out of the window towards the ground far below.

"Gotcha!" Night-Princess reached out and grabbed Night-Roller by the hand, sliding down the building only slightly. "Whew…" She sighed.

"Nice catch." Night-Roller said.

"Thank you." Night-Princess responded. She summoned a swarm of bats to fly up and in through the broken window.

"AAAAAAAAHHH!!!" Came the shrieks of some of the men from inside. Night-Princess heaved Night-Roller upward and he landed in the hallway he was previously in. She listened as Night-Roller quickly cleaned out that floor. She hopped in through the window, and then landed on the floor.

"You know… the way you just automatically land on whatever surface is convenient for you… I'd almost say you're affecting gravity in some way." Night-Roller said.

"Hm… maybe…" Night-Princess responded, thinking about it.

Meanwhile…

"Ugh… can any of you stop these guys?!" Traxon asked furiously.

"We're trying sir, but they're just too powerful!"

"Ugh…" Traxon groaned. He looked at the screen that showed Night-Claw and Simon going at each other. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. "Yes… hello? Yes, bring them in now… I'm prepared."

Meanwhile…

"Ha! Hiyah!"

"Ha!" Simon was throwing kicks and mace swings at Night-Claw while Night-Claw was dodging and countering. They both seemed pretty evenly matched as this went on. The two of them jumped back from each other. The two of them then ran forward and began jumping and flipping towards each other in almost exactly the same manner.

"HAAAA!!!"

"HAAAA!!!" The two then did fairly high jumps toward each other. The moment the two met in mid-air Simon swung his mace downward to hit Night-Claw over the head. Night-Claw caught the mace and threw a kick at Simon's face at the same time that Simon threw his own kick.

BAM

They both planted each other's foot in the other's face. Simon dropped his mace and they both fell towards the ground. Both of them readjusted themselves and landed on all fours in the exact same crouch. _"Wait a second…"_ Night-Claw thought as he saw this. The two jumped back from each other.

"…" Simon pulled out both shuriken and throwing knives and got ready to throw them.

"That's enough Simon."

"Mr. Traxon?" Simon looked around.

"The man has speakers in his parking garage… sheesh the rich will do anything to look cool won't they?" Night-Claw asked out loud.

Click

Click

Click

"_Damn… I was so distracted by this guy that I didn't notice all of these guys."_ Night-Claw thought as he and Simon looked around them to find themselves surrounded by men armed with machine guns.

"Simon, consider your contract terminated." Traxon said.

"WHAT!?! NO!!! You hired me to kill these guys!!!" Simon yelled furiously.

"Well I had to have some insurance Simon, and well… it saves me the money I have to pay you with."

"Traxon…" Simon growled.

"I think you have bigger concerns pal." Night-Claw said as he looked at the gunmen.

"I am sick… of getting ripped off…"

RATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA

Night-Claw and Simon flipped out of the way of gunfire in a similar fashion. As Simon was flipping out of the way he threw his shuriken and knives at the gunmen with alarming accuracy as he hit them in the neck, head, or chest. Both Night-Claw and Simon got behind columns and waited for the gunmen to run out of ammo.

"Now!" Night-Claw shouted as he and Simon jumped out. They each went for the nearest gunmen and easily knocked them out. They gunmen were helpless as Night-Claw and Simon handed their asses to them with powerful punches and kicks. "Hello." Night-Claw said as he grabbed one guy.

"Need a lift?" Simon grabbed another guy.

"AH!"

"Let go!"

"HA!!!" Both Night-Claw and Simon threw their guys towards the other.

CRASH

The two men collided with each other in mid-air and hit the ground. "Whew… that was tense." Night-Claw sighed.

"If you'll excuse me… I need to go meet with Traxon." Simon said.

"Hm?"

"He owes me some money for engaging you guys even if I didn't kill you, and either I'm getting that money, or I'm going to make him pay with more than just cash." Simon said as he walked toward the elevator.

"Hey, I still have a teenager with hormones and powers to rescue." Night-Claw said as he followed Simon.

"Whatever…" Simon said as he and Night-Claw got in the elevator and closed the door behind them.

Meanwhile…

"…" Night-Princess inhaled another inhaler canister before continuing to follow Night-Roller down the hallway. "I smell her, it has a scent of metal to it but it's definitely her." Night-Princess said.

"Which way?" Night-Roller asked.

"She already went up this elevator." Night-Princess sighed.

"Great…" Night-Roller groaned. "Okay, I'm a little tired of doing it this way but…" Night-Roller aimed at the ceiling and blasted through the next two floors before he and Night-Princess jumped through the freshly made holes.

Meanwhile…

"AH!!!"

"Ha!" Night-Claw and Simon were fighting a large group of guards in the hallway. Night-Claw would either swipe his claws at a guard then knock him out or just punch him out. Simon was wielding his katana and using it in tandem with punches and kicks, either knocking the guards out or slashing them with his sword. When they were done, the two stood in their stances to catch their breath for a moment.

"Okay, this floor is clear." Night-Claw said. "Good thing my partner made these holes, it's been a quick climb up."

"Yeah, can we go now?" Simon asked.

"Hold on… I have to know before we continue." Night-Claw said seriously. "How do you do your moves?"

"What?"

"I saw you during our fight, you moved in a way similar to me at a few points during that fight, I need answers right now." Night-Claw said.

"…" Simon groaned. "Fine… photographic reflex."

"What?"

"When I was kid I noticed how I could imitate every movement I saw. Years later I went to a doctor and they found that I have a special form of photographic memory that's tied in directly with my muscle memory." Simon explained. "The result… photographic reflex."

"Okay then…" Night-Claw said.

"As long as I am physically capable of doing it, I can imitate every movement I see, fighting styles namely." Simon explained.

"So those WERE my acrobatics!" Night-Claw accused. "Poser." He immediately said.

"Hey, sue me for copyright later! Can we go now pussycat!?" Simon asked impatiently.

"Hsssss…" Night-Claw hissed. He nonetheless grabbed Simon and jumped through the next hole.

Meanwhile…

Traxon was on the roof with about four security guards. He stood there with his hands behind his back and his foot tapping, as if expecting something.

"TRAXON!!!"

"Ah… All-Star was it? I was wondering when you'd arrive." Traxon said. The four guards turned and fired their guns at All-Star.

"…" All-Star clutched one of the bullets she picked up earlier and turned in to the same material. Her skin was much thicker than the bullets and thus they bounced off harmlessly. "Grrrrrrrrr…" All-Star rushed the guards and knocked them all out quickly. "Now for you."

"I must ask… what compels you, a mutant with no experience at this to attack me?" Traxon asked confidently.

"Because she's not alone."

"Ah… the Night-Hunters." Traxon turned to the other side of the roof. Night-Princess and Night-Roller stood at the edge of it. "I suppose you originally just came for that girl?"

"Yeah." Night-Roller said. "But you know what… you've caused enough grief over these last few days, I think at the very least we could capture you and turn you over to the proper authorities."

"Like S.H.I.E.L.D.? Impressive idea but…" Traxon began to say.

"But nothing Traxon!"

"Oh… Simon." Traxon sighed. Simon and Night-Claw came out of the door All-Star came out of and walked towards Traxon.

"You!" All-Star shouted.

"Relax, he's on our side, for now anyways." Night-Claw said.

"Like you guys, I've got my own problem with Traxon now." Simon said, moving in closer to Traxon. Soon, all five of them had Traxon surrounded on all sides.

"You know what… I've been waiting to kick your ass since that day you nearly had Night-Princess and I killed." Night-Claw said, cracking his knuckles.

"Traxon… the money or a knife in your head. Your choice." Simon threatened.

"Traxon… I won't kill you… the one you took from me wouldn't want that, but I will smack you around." All-Star threatened.

"Just surrender." Night-Princess said.

"Hmmmm…" Traxon looked at all five of them. "I think not."

"Wha?" A fairly large helicopter flew in, suddenly a bunch of guys in tight black suits jumped from it and landed gently with the aid of fairly small parachutes. The men all pulled out small sub-machine guns and aimed at the Night-Hunters, All-Star, and Simon. The helicopter then let a ladder down that Traxon grabbed.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Traxon laughed as the helicopter pulled him up. "Look at this… mutants, a mercenary, and a vampire… all gathering together to try and take me down, just to fail."

"TRAXON!!!" Simon threw the knife he was holding, but Traxon let it hit his chest where it did nothing. "What?"

"You think a knife is going to get past a bullet-proof vest?" Traxon asked. "Goodbye…" He added as he climbed in to the helicopter.

"NO!!!" All-Star shouted.

"We can't go after him…" Night-Roller said as the helicopter zoomed off.

"Are you sure about this Mr. Traxon? You didn't even give those men information on the Night-Hunters." The pilot told Traxon.

"I don't expect them to Night-Princess or Night-Roller… but you know what they say." Traxon started. "To kill the General, shoot his horse first."

"…" The five of them looked at the men surrounding them. "They aren't armed with silver bullets." Night-Claw said after sniffing the air.

"Makes it easier for me at least…" Night-Princess said.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm not ready to die here." Simon said.

"None of us are." Night-Roller said. The five of them broke off from each other. Night-Princess simply let two of them unload ammunition on her, none of the bullets penetrating her deep. She quickly knocked the two guys out with a punch and a kick.

"Ha!" Night-Claw clawed one guy in the torso twice before kicking a guy behind him, grabbing the guy he clawed and throwing him at another guy.

"Rah!" Simon cut one guy in the chest before turning around and hitting a guy in the head with the hilt of his sword before kicking him under the chin. He then spun around and sliced one guy in the stomach.

RATATATATATATATATATATATATATA

The bullets bounced off of Night-Roller's force-field and he simply knocked them out with energy blasts.

"Ha! Hiyah!" All-Star initially had trouble hitting these guys since they had the sense to avoid her, but unlike Simon they couldn't keep it up for long and she knocked them out when she did hit them.

"HA!!!" Night-Princess kicked the legs out from under one of them before karate chopping him in the head to knock him out. Night-Roller backed away and blasted more of them.

"Ha hiyah!" Simon pulled out the rod behind his belt and turned it on. He thrust the electro staff at one guy before knocking him out before using his sword to cut one guy across the shoulder and then using the electro staff on a higher frequency to knock him out.

"Whoa!" Night-Claw ducked under someone's gun right as he pulled the trigger. Instead the bullets went straight for All-Star, whose skin was returning to normal.

"No!!!" Night-Princess shouted.

"… huh?" Everyone looked around them. The few guys that were left and conscious weren't moving a muscle.

"Wait… I don't hear their heartbeats…" Night-Princess said.

"Whoa!"

"What?" Night-Roller asked.

"Bullets… this close… to hitting me…" All-Star slowly said as she looked at three bullets that were frozen in mid-air mere inches away from her.

"Whoa… this guy was behind me?" Simon said as he looked at one guy holding a knife poised to stab Simon.

"Holy crap…" Night-Claw looked at another guy holding a gun right next to his head where he ducked. "This guy almost unloaded a clip on me…" Night-Claw said.

"More importantly… why is everything frozen like this?" Night-Roller asked. As the five of them walked closer to the center of the building.

"Is is mistier?" All-Star asked.

"What the hell is going on?" Simon asked.

"I can answer that."

"Hm?" Everyone quickly turned to find a little kid in completely white clothing standing near the edge of the roof. "Who are you?" Night-Claw asked.

"I don't remember my real name." The kid said.

"And even though I could, I haven't bothered to go and figure it out either."

"Hm?" Everyone turned to the other edge of the roof, where a man in white clothing with a goatee stood. Everyone looked at where the kid was to find he wasn't there anymore. They then turned back to look at the man only to find him not there.

"But I suppose my real name is of no importance." The Night-Hunters and the other two looked over to another edge of the roof to find a teenager in white clothing standing there.

"Okay stop messing around and just tell us who you are!" Night-Claw demanded.

"Answers… now…" Simon said.

"Well… we've met before. Or rather what you would refer to as before." The teenager said.

"What?" Night-Princess asked.

"Yes." The next instant, he was standing at the door leading off the roof.

"Stop doing that! You're giving me the creeps." All-Star said.

"I'm sorry." The teenager said. "But yes, we've been acquainted, but I've never properly introduced myself."

"Just please tell us who you are." Night-Roller sighed.

"I now call myself Christopher." The Teenager answered. "And I am the most powerful mutant on Earth."

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What happens next? Leave a review.


	7. Chronology

Chronicles of the Dusk

When we last left off all hell broke loose. Night-Claw got in a rough fight with Simon, All-Star, Night-Roller, and Night-Princess wreaked havoc throughout Traxon's main building, and eventually Simon turned on his former employer. Just when Traxon seemed trapped he managed to escape and leave more trouble behind for the Night-Hunters. Now the mysterious Christopher appears, who is he?

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel comics, I do own my original characters and the plot.

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Chronology

"Most powerful mutant on Earth?" Night-Claw asked skeptically.

"That's right." Christopher said with a smile on his face. "What? Don't believe me?" He asked curiously.

"Well that IS an outrageous claim to make." Night-Roller pointed out.

"Prove it." Simon dared. "What can you do?"

"Oh… proof hm? Well… how do you want me to prove it? I could do lots of mean things to you. Something fatal even." He suggested rather nonchalantly.

"Stop screwing around!" Night-Claw lost his temper and lifted Christopher up by the shirt collar.

"I wouldn't do that…" Christopher said.

"Just cut to the chase would you!?" Night-Claw demanded.

"…" Christopher then smiled and nudged his head.

"Stop screwing around!" Night-Claw lost his temper and lifted Christopher up by the shirt collar, but then he set him down while holding his head. "Whoa… déjà vu." Night-Claw said.

"You guys feel it too?" All-Star asked.

"Déjà vu seems to be common whenever I do partial rewinds." Christopher said, now right behind Night-Princess.

"AH!" She gasped. "How'd you… get behind me?"

"Here… maybe this will show you what I can do." Christopher held a hand up and pointed it at Night-Princess.

"Whoa!" Night-Princess seemed to distort as she shrank away.

"What are you doing to her!?" Night-Claw demanded.

"…" Night-Princess was now on her knees. She slowly reached up to her mouth and felt her canine teeth. "I… I…"

"You okay?" All-Star asked.

"I'm normal…" Night-Princess said excitedly. "You could make me normal!?" Night-Princess asked Chris.

"Oh dear… I'm sorry, that was a cruel example." Chris said mournfully as he backed away slowly with a look of regret on his face. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you stay like that, it would go against my policy." He waved his hand again.

"AH!" Night-Princess distorted again and filled in to her clothes again. "…no…" Night-Princess felt her teeth with her tongue, her canines were razor sharp again. "Why…"

"Okay that's it! I've had about enough of your playing around!" Night-Roller shouted, starting to lose his own temper.

"Hey look! You going to get to the point already, or did you just come to piss us off!" Simon yelled.

"Sorry Simon… Sorry Joseph."

"W-wait! What?!" Night-Roller said.

"That's your real name?" Simon asked.

"How do you know his name!?" All-Star asked.

"Same as I know yours Stacy. And yours Felix and Lisa." Chris said.

"…" All of them just stared at Chris as he paced around the still frozen assailants.

"Hmmmm… you know, I suppose I really do need to get to the point." Chris said. "My abilities allow me to manipulate time."

"Time?" Everyone asked.

"Yes." Chris said. "Time in its entirety!" He declared somewhat playfully. "I can go forward through time." Everyone soon found themselves in a completely new office that looked added on. "I can go backwards through time."

"Holy cow!" The group of five found themselves on top of construction beams from before the roof was even finished.

"I can speed up, slow down, or stop time." Chris said. "I can even distort time in a single small space. I call it spatial distortion."

"Like… what you did with me." Night-Princess said.

"Yes." Chris said. "By manipulating time, I can achieve nearly any effect I desire." Chris said. He then waved his hand and they were back to the roof they were on with the frozen assailants and bullets.

"So… this was your doing…" Night-Claw said as he pointed out the frozen assailants.

"Exactly." Chris said before grabbing the frozen bullets and tossing them up and down as if they were coins.

"…" All of them stood there speechless. Someone who could manipulate time itself? Someone who could change history on a whim? Could change their very existences?

"I see you understand." Chris noted out loud. "Using my powers, I have been watching all of you for some time."

"How long?" All-Star asked. "And when? Because that's a major invasion of privacy!" All-Star began shouting.

"No here's a better question..." Night-Roller said. "How far in to the future have you watched us?"

"Your future you mean?"

"The future is the future isn't it?" Simon asked.

"To me the past, present, and future are nearly the same thing." Chris said. "And to answer your question Joseph, I've peeked every now and then, but generally speaking I don't pry in to everyone's future, besides, it's not like it always happens."

"What?" Night-Princess asked. "But… if you can even look in to the future doesn't that mean it's set?"

"On the contrary, my existence proves that the future is not absolute." Chris said. "One sentence, one footstep, one thought… it's not major events of death or incredible miracles that determine what happens next. Rather it is the slightest details, and well… anything can happen when you think of it like that can't it?"

"Okay… thanks for the enlightenment there." Night-Claw said, only somewhat seriously though.

"Now can you tell us how long you've been watching us?" All-Star asked.

"Well, relative to your present I suppose… ever since Blade told me to do so two of your years ago."

"Blade…" Night-Princess uttered.

"BLADE!!!" That name was enough to make Night-Claw's blood boil. He walked up to Chris and again lifted him up by the shirt collar. "What do you have to do with Blade!?"

"As far as Blade is concerned in your present… nothing anymore." Chris said. "I suppose you should know…" Chris said. He waved his hand and soon everyone found themselves in a city of ancient design, made from marble with temples and stone walkways all around them.

"Where are we?" Simon asked.

"Or when are we?" Night-Roller added.

"We are in Rome… at the height of the Roman Empire." Chris answered, suddenly appearing before them as his older self with a goatee.

"Rome!? During the Roman Empire!? Why are we here?" Night-Claw asked exasperated. "And how'd we get here?!"

"I froze time for you and fast forwarded to when I brought you here." Chris said.

"You… really can do anything can't you?" Night-Princess asked in awe.

"This…" Chris said, ignoring Night-Princess. "This is the time I grew up in."

"What?" All-Star asked. "You were born this many years ago?"

"Yes…" Chris said, turning to look at a boy no older than twelve coming down a marble staircase. "This was when my powers first manifested." He said, pointing at the boy.

"That's you…" Night-Roller said, realizing what he was getting at.

"Yes…" Chris said. "Nearly every mutant loses control of their powers when they first manifest, I was no exception."

"…" The boy suddenly sat down as if dizzy. He then looked up suddenly and saw everything around him rapidly crumble away by aging, and then just as quickly rewind then freeze. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

"What the…" Simon looked around at all of the unfolding chaos.

"I was in chaos… I was unconsciously fast forwarding, rewinding, stopping, slowing down and jumping through time uncontrollably." Chris told them.

"I… I'm sorry…" Night-Princess said as they watched this chaotic warping of time occur before their very eyes, and at the center of all of it was a small boy who had no idea how or why this was going on.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" The boy shouted as he ran, unaware of why any of this was happening and what was happening to his world. "…" The young Chris finally collapsed.

"Where's this?" Night-Claw asked. "And when." He quickly added.

"Five years before your present day." Chris answered. "And in Northeast WestChester County of the state of New York."

"Isn't that close to…" All-Star began to ask. "WHAT IS THAT!?!"

"A random vampire that found my unconscious body." Chris said as a shadowy figure crept up to the younger Chris. "It quite nearly bit me and fed off of me."

"RAH!!!" Blade suddenly appeared behind the vampire and stabbed it through the heart from behind with his silver katana.

"Who the hell is…" Simon began to ask.

"That is my savior." Chris interrupted.

"And our pain in the ass." Night-Claw scoffed. "Wait… how come nobody notices us here?"

"Oh… we're in my little fold in time. We technically are not in the same time stream as they are, thus we don't exist with them." Chris explained. "It's a bit more complicated than that however."

"Spare me then, I think I speak for all of us when I say we've nearly had our fill of this time warping stuff." Night-Roller sighed.

"Amen…" Simon said. "What's he doing there?" Simon asked as Blade checked the young Chris' neck.

"He checked to see if was bitten first, and then he took me to the nearest populated area." Chris said as Blade threw the unconscious Chris over his shoulder.

"Oh! Is it the X-Mansion!" All-Star yelled excitedly.

"How do you know?" Night-Princess asked curiously.

"Well I am a mutant… I didn't actually go but I looked it up online with Myra's help." All-Star answered.

"It is there where I met Charles Xavier." Chris said. Things fast forwarded a bit before stopping at a moment when Blade placed the unconcious Chris in front of the door before leaving. Everything then fast forward again.

"What happened after that?" Night-Princess asked.

"Charles kept me in a psychicly induced coma for two years until I could control my power." Chris said. "It was necessary, with powers like mine anything could have happened."

"And after that?" All-Star asked.

"Why are you two so interested?" Simon asked.

"A few things happened, I used my powers to learn about the world of the present day, I found it so much more entertaining than my old life, and I expanded my field of knowledge, and I learned how to control my powers even better. And so I used them to figure out who I owed my life to, and I found Blade again in Africa." Chris explained, now in his young boy age. They finally stopped in some African jungle.

"…" Blade stood over the ashes of a vampire he just defeated before turning around. "Who's there?"

"You don't remember me Blade?" Came the voice of the adult version of Chris, who revealed himself to Blade.

"How the Hell should I know you?" Blade asked.

"Maybe this will ring a bell." The adult Chris that was talking to Blade slowly aged backwards until he was the age Blade rescued him at.

"So?" Blade asked.

"So… I owe you my life." Chris said.

"Forget it." Blade turned around to leave only to find Chris right in front of his face when he turned around. "…"

"Not fazed easily… that's good." Chris said. "But quite frankly… I'm not going to let you turn me down."

"Out of my way kid…" Blade held his sword to Chris' throat.

"Go ahead… my powers will merely kick in on reflex and rewind if you kill me." Chris dared.

"What are your powers anyway?" Blade asked.

"I am the most powerful mutant on Earth, and I go by the name of Chris."

"That doesn't tell me anything." Blade said. Chris disappeared from his sight again, and then reappeared behind him.

"I have the power to manipulate time in its entirety." Chris said.

"Really?" Blade asked, somewhat interested.

"Yes. I could make your vampire hunting significantly easier." Chris said.

"How? Erasing vampires from history?" Blade asked.

"I could but I won't." Chris said. "Power like mine requires a terrible amount of responsibility, and there are only so many lines I'm willing to cross."

"Then what help could you be?" Blade asked before beginning to walk away.

"He turned you down?" Night-Claw asked.

"Wait…" Chris said. The Chris they were watching then entered the time space they were in. "Hello." Chris said to Chris.

"Hello, giving them the tour I see." That Chris said.

"Uh… wait what? I thought we were watching the Chris that hadn't done what you're doing yet." All-Star said.

"You are." Both of them answered.

"That doesn't make sense." Night-Roller said.

"I don't know who you five are." That Chris said before fast forwarding away from them and then returning to Blade. "Well… I did find a nearby vampire nest South of here."

"A nest?" Blade asked.

"Yes… you're free to do what you want with it, but due to my policies I won't help you kill them." Chris said. "I can easily keep tabs and what not though."

"Hmph… you know what… why not?" Blade said. "What about getting me to places?"

"I might do that. I will refuse if I feel I have a good reason to do that though." Chris said.

"Deal." Blade said.

"Okay… wait, this is what… three years ago now?" Night-Roller asked.

"Yes… and Blade really had fun during the year of his time I spent with him." Chris said. He fast forwarded to a moment when Blade was fighting a very large group of vampires very skillfully with his swords.

"…" Simon was watching Blade intently.

"Opportunist." Night-Claw hissed.

"Shut it." Simon said as he continued to watch Blade.

"Moving on." Chris then fast forwarded it to a moment when Blade was holding the severed arm of a vampire. "This was one year later."

"Chris." Blade said.

"Excuse me." Chris said, leaving those five stranded in the time space and going to see Blade himself.

"He just left us?" Night-Claw asked.

"Why'd he do that?" Night-Princess asked.

"Because I'm helping Blade." The teenage Chris said, coming up behind the five of them again.

"But he was helping us." Simon said.

"He doesn't know who you are." That Chris said.

"What?" Simon asked.

"Are you trying to confuse us?" All-Star asked.

"Go after Drake… he's up to something and I don't like it." Blade said.

"Okay, but just to warn you, I won't stop him if he does something heinous and you're not there to stop him." That Chris told Blade before jumping in to time space. "Who are you people?"

"We just met." Night-Claw said.

"Sorry, I've got an errand to run." Chris said.

"Good luck." The teenage Chris said. "Oh and by the way…" Chris turned to his five guests. "Drake had gone to make sure a follower of his was biting the right people."

"Me…" Night-Princess said.

"Exactly." Chris said. Chris then brought all five of them back to the roof they were on moments before.

"That's it then?" Night-Claw asked.

"Well… after Lisa was bitten and you saved her, Blade told me to keep an eye on you and let him know the moment she cut out of line." Chris said. "Ah but since then, Blade told me to call my debt repaid." Chris said, running his fingers through his slick black hair.

"Okay… then why are you still watching us?" Night-Claw asked.

"Because…" Chris then turned around to face all five of them. "Because you are all just so interesting!!!"

"What?" Night-Roller and All-Star asked.

"You three, the Night-Hunters, you three have been the most entertaining thing to watch and I've watched a lot." Chris said. "And then… the addition of you two, Simon and Stacy, you made this a whole lot more compelling."

"But we aren't really affiliated with these guys." Simon said. "I don't even know that girl."

"And I don't know him." All-Star said.

"Ah but… there is potential." Chris said. "I don't always look ahead of time on purpose but lots of times I catch glimpses and so I have a question for you all."

"What?" Night-Roller asked patiently.

"What now?" Chris asked.

"What do you mean what now?" Night-Princess asked him.

"Whether you meant to or not, you pulled three people in to your lives now…" Chris started.

"Three? I only count tw…" Night-Claw started.

"And will they be the same now?" Chris continued, interrupting Night-Claw. "Can you go back to your old lives?" He asked.

"…"

"…" Simon and All-Star were silent on this.

"What are you getting at?" Night-Claw asked.

"Hm… well… I suppose it doesn't matter though." Chris said as a thought reflected in his dark brown eyes. "After all, you have to get by this night first."

"What do you mean?" All-Star asked.

"Yeah you already pulled our fats out of the fryer." Simon pointed out.

"I have done no such thing." Chris said, holding his hand out and pointing the palm of it at the five of them.

"What are you talking about?" Night-Roller asked nervously.

"You heard me talk about policies when I was with Blade correct?" Chris said. "Well through a personal rule of mine, I am not allowed to interfere directly with anything."

"What?" Night-Claw asked.

"I'd be lying if I said I haven't broken this rule once or twice, but I've always either taken measures to fix it back to how it should have been, or taken measures to ensure it had no major impact on history later." Chris said. "But this is not one of those instances I'm going to break my rule."

"You're not serious." Simon said.

"In one minute I shall restart time with all of you back in the same moment before Stacy got shot by three bullets, two of which hit vital organs…"

"Uh…" All-Star backed away fearfully.

"…right before Felix got shot in the head by automatic fire." Chris continued.

"You can't just do that!" Night-Claw yelled.

"And right before Simon got stabbed in the left lung by a knife." Chris said.

"You're insane!" Simon shouted.

"Look at it this way." Chris said with a smile. "I'll let you remember that I exist. I've only given two other people that honor. Professor Xavier and Blade, even Fury and Danvers don't know I exist." Chris said. "I'll let you remember what happened here."

"…" Night-Claw looked at him confused for a second before an idea lit up in his head.

"Five…" Chris began counting.

"No…" Night-Princess moaned. "Don't die…"

"Four…" Chris continued. Night-Claw revealed his claws and grabbed All-Star. "Three…"

"Hurry." Night-Claw said.

"Two…"

"What?" All-Star asked.

"One…"

"Oh!" She gasped.

"Whoa!" Night-Claw ducked under someone's gun right as he pulled the trigger. Instead the bullets went straight for All-Star, whose skin was made out of Silver-Adamantite.

"Nice!" All-Star knocked away the bad guys that were around her.

"Hiyah!" Simon quickly spun around and kicked the guy about to stab him in the side of the head before slicing that guy as he fell, spinning around and doing three quick slashes on the guy he was dealing with.

"Heh…"

RATATATATATATATATATATATA

Night-Claw had deliberately fallen on to his side to narrowly avoid the bullets before kicking that one guy in between the legs.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"Ha!" Night-Roller used a slightly amped up beam of energy to knock out the remaining guys on the roof.

"Whew…" All-Star was already exhausted and returned to normal quickly. "We're alive!" She shouted happily.

"No thanks to Mr. most powerful mutant on Earth." Simon added.

"Actually…" Night-Claw said. "I think we should thank him."

"What? He dropped us back here to die." Simon said.

"Yeah but if he didn't come to us in the first place, and thus let us know that we were about to die we wouldn't have survived." Night-Claw said.

"You think so?" Night-Roller asked.

"Yeah, he didn't say it out loud himself, he wanted us to figure it out on our own." Night-Claw said.

"Wait… so in other words he just weaseled around his own rules?" Simon said.

"Yep, he didn't directly help us, but directly is the operative word here." Night-Claw said.

"All-Star…" Night-Princess said quietly. "You know I'm not a mutant right?"

"Well, I thought you were when I first met you…" All-Star said. "But after tonight… yeah."

"So… why aren't you afraid?" Night-Princess asked.

"Because I know what it's like to be feared." All-Star said. "No one ever had the chance to say it to my face, but I always was hurt by mutant prejudice groups, so I know what it's like." All-Star ducked down. "Besides… you're too sweet to be evil."

"Thank you." Night-Princess gave All-Star a hug as a sign of appreciation.

"You know… Chris had a good point." Night-Roller said.

"Hm?" Everyone turned to look at Night-Roller.

"What now?" He asked.

"…" All of them had already thought about this question before, and they thought about it again when Night-Roller asked.

"Whether you like it or not, Traxon has made enemies out of you two and… maybe it'd be better if we worked together against him next time instead of tripping over each other." Night-Roller said.

"Wait… you mean…" All-Star began to ask.

"I'd like it if you were a bit older…" Night-Roller sighed.

"Night-Roller, I'm still younger than she is." Night-Princess pointed out.

"Right…" He chuckled. "But yeah All-Star… would you like to join the Night-Hunters?"

"…" All-Star stood there for a moment stunned. "You know… I still wish I could have done something for my Mom but… at the very least… I'll do something to make her and Dad proud." All-Star said.

"…" The three Night-Hunters looked at her waiting for her to finish while Simon looked away, yet listened.

"So yes! Yes I will! I'll be a great hero! I'll make you proud!" All-Star shouted.

"Heh… welcome aboard." Night-Claw said.

"Thank you…" All-Star said.

"Yeah and now I've got another back to watch, only this one lacks experience so that means more of a pain than already." Night-Claw barbed.

"Hey!"

"What about you Simon?" Night-Roller said.

"Forget it… I'm a mercenary, not a super-hero." Simon said, turning to leave for the door.

"Simon… I've read your records of Hell's Haven… do you really want to go back there after botching another job?" Night-Roller asked.

"One, why should I care? And two, just for the record, I got ripped off on those jobs just like this one." Simon said.

"But are you happy with this?" Night-Roller asked.

"…" Simon stopped walking and thought about it.

"Don't you… want to have friends over competitors?" Night-Princess asked.

"…" Simon sighed before continuing to walk down the steps. "I'm going to grab all of my leftover weapons and leave before the cops get here." He said before continuing towards the steps. He stopped at the stairs and turned around. "Hey… Night-Princess… sorry about the arm thing." He said before walking down the stairs.

"Hey, at least give us a definite answer!" Night-Claw shouted.

"Well, I think that's a no." All-Star sighed.

"…" Night-Princess and Night-Claw looked over towards the stairs where Simon left with looks that showed that they were deep in thought.

"Well guys, we'd better head home." Night-Roller said.

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The next chapter is the last one of this story arc. And then the dreaded hiatus. Well, leave a review.


	8. Dusk Falls, a New Night Begins

Chronicles of the Dusk

When we last left off, Chris, the time manipulating mutant, introduced himself rather thoroughly to the Night-Hunters. After he left them, the memories he left them with allowed the Night-Hunters to save themselves. After which, All-Star accepted the invitation to join while Simon has apparently refused. But does he truly intend to go back to Hell's Haven?

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel Comics, I do own my original characters and the plot.

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Dusk falls, a New Night Begins

"The night before, police arrived at the main headquarters of Traxon's Trading company in Los Angeles."

"…" Simon was in a café reading a magazine as his black coffee was given to him. He was also listening to the news as he did so.

"Police have determined due to the extensive damage done on the interior of the building that the attack could only have been pulled off by the Night-Hunters."

"…" Simon smiled at this.

"Though no evidence was left to determine that identities of the perpetrators, the police take this as further proof of the Night-Hunter's involvement. The building's security guards persist that the attack had no motive and there was no clear reason for the attack. Public reaction is, as expected, quite massive."

"Mutants, every last one of them needs to be locked up!" One man being interviewed shouted.

"Why would they attack a good business man's office? To Hell if I know but I know that they need to be locked up where they belong!" Another interviewee shouted.

"Fight corporate control! The Night-Hunters support our cause!" Shouted some demonstrators at the sight.

"The Night-Hunters need to crawl back under the rock they came from!"

"…" Simon kept on listening. Most of the people interviewed had some racist comment or another, while others supported the Night-Hunters for their own stupid reasons.

"These guys have been hanging around for two years now. They act like they're helping out crime around here, but every now and then a stunt like this just shows their true colors! This is an outrage!" The last interviewed person shouted.

"Heroes? Or criminals? All we know is that last night's attack has left LA in an uproar."

"…" Simon finished his coffee and walked out as he listened to the comments in the café about the news, pretty much echoing the people that were interviewed. _"Sheesh, and I thought the idiots at Hell's Haven were annoying."_

"_But still… they keep on doing this stuff. And it's not like they're getting paid to do it either."_ Simon thought. _"So what exactly do they get out doing this? Is this something I should do? Eh… but I've always gotten along just fine looking out for myself."_

Flashback…

"**You sure you don't want your parents to know about this?" The doctor asked.**

"**Yeah I'm sure." A thirteen-year-old Simon said to the doctor. He had some black hair growing in, but he apparently shaved it.**

"**Well… it's really incredible, you have a very unique form of photographic memory that… well it's not really even acknowledged by modern science today."**

"**How so?"**

"**Your photographic memory is connected to your muscle memory…"**

"**What's muscle memory?"**

"**It's… it's well when your body acts on impulse rather than when you want it to. But anyways… basically anything you see, you can do."**

"**Really?"**

"**Really."**

End of flashback…

"Oh, excuse me ma'am." Simon said as he accidentally bumped in to a stranger.

"Hey watch it." The impatient woman said.

"Hmph…" Simon sat down on a bench to continue thinking to himself. _"Yeah, that was eleven years ago… I thought I was a mutant or something but well… no I didn't have the X-gene… I just had some freaky memory. And boy did I use it."_

Flashback…

"**Simon! You done watching football yet?" An older man that looked like Simon asked.**

"**Uh… no dad." Simon said, not taking his eyes off of the players.**

"**Well your mom wants you to take out that trash when you're done." His dad told him.**

"**Yeah… okay."**

**The next day…**

"**Man, you see the way that kid moves?" One of the coaches watching football tryouts asked.**

"**And he's a freshman?"**

"**Yeah but he's good enough to be on varsity." The coaches were watching Simon out-maneuver everyone on the field and in spite of his smaller size he still managed to take down even the fairly big guys.**

End of flashback…

"…" Simon got up and got on the bus. He paid the fee, and went to stand. _"Although I joined, I quit shortly afterward… it got dull. And so did soccer, baseball, tennis, every sport I studied I got bored with. Maybe that was my fault for watching how professionals did it but still… at least I got by in school just fine."_

Flashback…

**Simon was sitting at his desk in a classroom. He hadn't studied for this test one bit. But he looked over to the front of the room where the brainiac of the class sat. He studied how the kid held his paper on his desk and moved his pencil. Simon kept moving his arm and hand in the exact same way while watching the kid out of the corner of his eye.**

**Later…**

"**It's amazing… you do a so-so job on homework, yet you excel at tests… how do you do that?" The teacher asked Simon.**

"**Eh… I just pick it up." Simon said before leaving the room.**

End of flashback…

"_Ever since I learned just what I had… life became so much more boring. I just did whatever the hell I felt like doing."_ Simon thought. He got off the bus and continued to walk down the street for no apparent reason. _"But… there was one person who kept me from dying of boredom."_

Flashback…

"**Hey Simon wait up!"**

"**Hm? Oh hey Abby." Simon said with a smile.**

"**How'd you do on that test?" Abby asked. She had blue eyes and long red hair.**

"**Pretty good. You?" Simon asked in return as they walked down the street.**

"**Awful… how do you pass those tests?"**

"**I don't study." Simon said.**

"**You're joking right?" Abby asked, exasperated.**

"**Ha ha…" He chuckled.**

"_Too bad it didn't last…"_

"**Hey did ya hear?"**

"**Oh my God… I don't believe it."**

"**That's sad…"**

"**It can't be true."**

"**I knew her so well…"**

"**A car accident?"**

"**Is that how it happened?"**

**Simon stood in the hallway as word about Abby spread around. He then went in to the nearest boy's restroom, got in to one of the graffiti covered bathroom stalls before throwing down his backpack and kicking the wall as hard as he could "DAMMIT ALL!!! YOU HAD TO GO AND DIE DIDN'T YOU!?! DIDN'T YOU!?!"**

End of flashback…

"HEY!!! MY PURSE!!!"

"…" Simon turned down the street to see a mugger running off with someone's purse. Most everyone backed away as the guy ran. Simon spun around once, did a sweeping kick that tripped the guy up, and then grabbed the man by his shirt before he fell on his face. "Give it back…" Simon said with a threatening undertone.

"Urk…" The man was quite obviously in shock.

"Oh… wow thank you." The woman sighed in relief.

"No problem." Simon said as he let go of the guy and let him hit the pavement. _"Hmm… yeah… I guess it's thanks to Abby I started learning how to fight."_

Flashback…

"…" **Simon was at a karate tournament that had people of all ages, ranks, and skill spar with each other. They also occasionally had demonstrations of katas. Simon watched each match up and each kata routine intently, knowing he'd know every move karate had to offer before he left the place that day.**

"**Volunteer from the audience!?" Came the shout of the announcer. "To spar against our sensei?"**

"**I'll volunteer." Simon said as he stepped down. Simon was outfitted with the proper protective gear before stepping on to the mat. They bowed before getting in to stances and trading punches and kicks.**

"…" **Everyone was speechless as Simon traded blow for blow with the sensei, countered each counter. They would each grab each other only to get out of each grab. But as it went on Simon was gaining a clear advantage. Finally, Simon floored the sensei.**

End of flashback…

"_I learned two things that day."_ Simon thought as he kept walking. _"One, I learned I could predict my opponent more clearly after watching him move. And two, I found something I wasn't quite so bored with."_ Simon paused to look at a wall covered in graffiti that was slamming the Night-Hunters, and with very colorful language too. _"I then studied Tai kwon doh, learned how to use weapons more efficiently, and then… Hell's Haven."_

Flashback…

"**So… how'd you learn about this place?" The old man behind the desk asked Simon.**

"**Some guy I beat up." Simon answered.**

"**Is that guy still breathing?"**

"**No."**

"**Good answer." The man said. "Now… can you say that you regret killing that man?"**

"**No."**

"**Another good answer. Now then… would you be prepared to kill anybody? Even if it meant old friends and family?"**

"…" **Simon hesitated for a brief moment. "Yes."**

"**Hmmmm…" The man sighed. "Well, I might regret this but… you're in."**

"**Good."**

End of flashback…

"_But… every job I got the employer always always always ripped me off. Especially annoying since the crappy missions I got were too easy." _Simon thought. He then stopped near a destroyed building. Part of the sign was still legible. It read "Nox's Fl…st"

"Pity… I heard the girl of the shop owner was left an orphan." An old woman who stopped to look at it said.

"Yeah… pity." Simon agreed half-heartedly before he walked away. He turned in to a nearby ally to be alone. He leaned against a wall before getting back on his train of thought. _"You know… I might have gotten ripped off on this job but you know something…" _Simon thought about fighting against and subsequently fighting against Night-Claw.

"**Don't you… want to have friends over competitors?"**

"_You know… fighting them… and fighting with them… it was almost… fun." _Simon thought. _"Challenging… and then… that girl. Night-Princess or… Lisa was it? She, kind of reminded me of Abby. And then that Chris guy… do these guys go through that kind of stuff all the time?"_ Simon continued to wonder about the Night-Hunters, he hardly even paid attention to the time as he kept thinking.

"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh…" Simon groaned in frustration. "What the hell? I shouldn't even be thinking about any of this!" He shouted. "But… maybe… maybe this could be better than Hell's Haven…"

"Does this mean you've made up your mind?"

"Hm?!" Simon looked up and found Lisa sitting on the wall cross-legged style in a blue shirt and blue jeans, she also had on shades. "It's daylight out, shouldn't you be hiding? Or dead?" Simon asked.

"I'm wearing sunscreen, believe it or not, it works." Lisa said.

"And… how can you do that I mean… your hair isn't even falling to the ground." Simon pointed out.

"Dad thinks I manipulate gravity to a limited extent." Lisa said. "You know… maybe we can't pay you for this but… wouldn't it feel better knowing we're on one side?"

"…" Simon sighed for a minute. "All I've really known is how to compete and how to survive on my own two legs."

"Well… Dad once said that just because you don't need help, doesn't mean you couldn't use a little help." Lisa said.

"Well… what about the fact that I sliced off your arm? Doesn't that bother you?" Simon asked.

"You said you were sorry." Lisa said. "And you meant it too. I know you did."

"And the Stacy girl?"

"She should be fine with it."

"Your dad?"

"He IS the one who invited you."

"And the pussycat who's bound and determined to sue me."

"Felix? He teases everyone like that."

"…" Simon sighed as she answered each one. "You know… this isn't exactly an easy choice."

"I… guess not for you." Lisa said. "I love being on the team but still… the choice was easy for me."

"Hm?"

"It was either join or give in to my instincts." Lisa said. "Die, or live. Do something horrible, or do something good. I had little choice." Lisa continued. "But… I have no regrets, I love Dad, and I love Felix. I really like Stacy too."

"And what about me?" Simon asked.

"Do you want a friend?" Lisa asked.

"…" Simon sighed yet again. For a fourteen year old kid, she could cut pretty deep with just a few words. "Yeah… I guess I do."

Meanwhile…

"I can't believe they invited both of us over." Myra said in awe. She and Stacy were in the basement where the rail car led to. Felix's chemistry lab was set up on one side while Joseph's equipment was still on one side.

"And I can't believe you actually let me test how your body works in a liquid state." Felix said as he looked through a microscope as Stacy held a watery finger under it.

"Well hey, I kind of want to know how it works too. Kind of." Stacy said.

"Amazing…" Felix said. "You know how your cells make more cells in the human body?"

"Yes." Myra said.

"Well the cells in Stacy's watery form do the same thing, they make more water, and she apparently has some control over how fast the replication is." Felix said. "I still have no idea what happens with your internal organs though."

"Great… could you leave now?" Stacy asked.

"Hm? Why?" Felix asked.

"I… need to change back…" Stacy said, obviously embarrassed.

"OH! Geez… uh… okay then." Felix said before hastily walking upstairs. "Oh Myra… Joseph wanted to talk to you."

"What for?" Myra asked.

"Go on up, I'll catch up." Stacy told Myra. Myra followed Felix upstairs.

Upstairs…

"Yes." Joseph said to his computer. He had on a headset and microphone while on the computer screen a woman with short blonde hair could be seen.

"Fine… since you guys did do S.H.I.E.L.D. a favor we can add the requested people to S.H.I.E.L.D. protected status." The woman replied.

"Thank you Ms. Danvers. Where is Fury though?"

"That's classified information." Carol Danvers answered. "But anyways, for security reasons what has Dr. Thomas done with the adamantium formula?"

"Oh… he burned it the moment he cracked it. He's got it all memorized now." Joseph said.

"Very well then." Carol's image then disappeared.

"Here she is." Felix said to Joseph as he lead Myra in to the room.

"Myra… about your little hacking last night."

"I swear I was only doing it to help Stacy." Myra said quickly.

"Whoa whoa whoa… I'm not mad." Joseph said. "Just hear me out. I thought it was impressive, and… though through tracing your pathway…"

"You can do that?" Myra asked.

"Yes, though impressive, you need work." Joseph said. "And you know what… I think we need someone who can support us from off the field."

"What?" Myra asked.

"If I gave you the necessary programs, would you be willing to monitor us on nightly patrols, keep in radio contact, check on police reports, and other ways of tech support?" Joseph asked.

"What but…"

"Relax, you'll be able to do this all from your home computer if you need to." Joseph reassured her.

"…" Myra looked away for a minute.

"You have a very brilliant mind Myra, it'd be a shame not to use it." Joseph said.

"You know…" Myra paused as a smile crossed her face. "Stacy and I always imagined something like this. I'll do it."

"Great!"

"Oh good, less back watching for me." Felix commented.

"Hey… I heard that." Stacy said as she came in to the room. "Oh and guess who showed up."

"Wait that scent… don't tell me…" Felix paused. "It's the poser!"

"Ha ha very funny Felix the cat." Simon responded as he came in carrying three bags on him while Lisa carried a few others.

"Hssssssssss…" Felix hissed.

"What's in the bags?" Myra asked.

"My weapons I grabbed… a few clothes and… my costume." Simon answered. "Hey, if I'm going to do this, I have a few conditions."

"Okay… what?" Joseph asked.

"First of all, news says you need a manager. Well I'm it." Simon said.

"Done."

"What? That easily?" Felix asked.

"Second, if I think any of you need patching up on fighting skill, I'm pulling you aside for Simon's school of hard knocks." Simon said.

"Not happening with me bucko." Felix said.

"Don't fight please…" Lisa said.

"Well, that depends but otherwise, okay." Joseph told Simon.

"And third, my name is not going to have the word Night in it." Simon said.

"Hey, mine doesn't either." Stacy said.

"What did you pick for a name?" Myra asked.

"Nukenin." Simon answered.

"What the hell does that mean?" Felix asked.

"It means fugitive ninja." Simon said.

"That doesn't make sense." Felix said.

"Yes it does! We technically fight outside the law, and I know martial arts."

"Yeah but I could have kicked your butt given more time." Felix said.

"You want to make something out of this!?" Simon asked.

"Please don't fight." Myra said nervously.

"This is going to go well." Stacy said sarcastically.

"Hey guys…" Joseph interrupted. Everyone there turned to look at Joseph. "We may have had our differences, but now we're one team. And even though nobody outside realizes that what we do is for the better, we'll stick it through no matter what. Am I right?" Joseph asked, holding a hand out.

"You know I've got your back." Felix said, putting his hand on top of Joseph's.

"Yeah." Lisa said, putting her hand on top of Joseph's and Felix's hands.

"You bet." Stacy said as she followed suit. "Come on Myra."

"Uh… okay." Myra said.

"You know… I thought this was so cheesy when I played sports but… oh what the hey?" Simon added his hand to the mix.

"We are the Night-Hunters, and together we'll get through everything." Joseph said.

"Yeah."

"Nothing can put us down."

Amidst the chatter, in the time space, Chris stood at the door and watched them. "And so, a new chapter begins."

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Well, that concludes the introductory arc. And now dear readers, this story will be placed on hiatus in order for me to continue "Super Smash Exams". Until the day I continue this story, enjoy Super Smash Exams.


	9. A Fresh Start

Chronicles of the Dusk

This story is back. For the time being. Whether it keeps going or not depends on whether I know what you guys think about this story. Writing is fun and all, but really it helps if I know whether you like the story or not.

When we last left off the Night-Hunters added new members to their team. Stacy, a mutant girl with the ability to change in to whatever she touches. Simon, a former mercenary with photographic reflex that enables him to replicate what he sees. And Myra, an intelligent girl offered the role of off-field support.

Yeah I know I already posted this, but I changed my mind on a particular idea and removed it. It wouldn't have affected the overall story anyways.

The changes are more near the end, and somewhat in the middle. So read on.

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel comics, I do own my characters and the story itself.

…**A Fresh Start…**

"Okay… uh-huh…" Myra was bracing her cell-phone between her head and shoulder while typing on her computer, Stacy was sitting on her bed cross-legged while talking on her phone. "Okay Joseph, thanks it's working much better now." Myra said over the phone.

"Good to hear, this ought to make keeping track of police scans much easier." Joseph told her over the phone.

"Yeah, hopefully this'll be of more help to you guys." Myra said.

"You okay Lisa?" Stacy asked in to the phone.

"Kind of…" Lisa answered. "It's just... going to be lonely without Dad, Felix, and Simon around, and you guys won't be able to visit as much."

"Hey... I've got an idea." Stacy said with a smile.

"Yeah the map of the city works perfectly." Myra said in to the phone.

"Hm? Simon wanted us to come over? Now? Oh boy… okay we're on our way." Stacy sighed. "See you later sweetie." She said before hanging up.

"Oh… uh we can talk when we come over, we'll be leaving now." Myra said.

"Okay Myra." Joseph said before hanging up.

"I guess we better go see what Simon wants." Stacy sighed.

"Probably to show you how to fight some more." Myra said.

"Aw man…" Stacy groaned. "Oh well, we were going to go over anyways."

"Why?" Myra asked.

"Here's my idea..." Stacy started.

Meanwhile…

"Yes we're still discussing the album." Simon said in to his earpiece while performing an elaborate kata routine. "Right, so that single is making good chart placements? Right we'll be over there to discuss the music video tomorrow. I understand, thank you." Simon said before turning the phone off.

"Simon you in here?" Joseph asked. "Oh, guess so…"

"Whoa whoa whoa… this pose isn't… easy to hold…" Simon said, he was keeping his balance while supporting his entire body on one hand.

"I'll wait." Joseph said.

"Ugh…" Simon got down. "Yeah I saw Felix do this, but I have to admit it's hard to do without super-human strength."

"I imagine, so what do we need to be at the record company for?"

"We're discussing your next music video." Simon answered, pulling out a bottled water and drinking.

"I see, so what did you want the girls over here for?" Joseph asked.

"What else for? To show them how to fight." Simon said.

"Right…" Joseph sighed. "Just be a bit easier on them today."

"Why?"

"School starts again tomorrow." Joseph said.

"Really? Say speaking of which… where's the cat?" Simon asked.

"Out with Elaine."

Meanwhile…

"Finally, no phone calls, no lesson plans to make, no nut jobs causing trouble, just a nice and quiet date." Felix sighed in relief. He and Elaine were sitting in a fairly nice restaurant, looking at their menus and trying to decide what to eat.

"No kidding, that one week was crazy." Elaine said.

"Yeah, that week really escalated my blood-pressure." Felix sighed.

"I can imagine." Elaine chuckled.

"_No… you don't even know the half of it." _Felix thought to himself. "Yeah, first that gun man, then that Stacy girl, and then the news accusing the Night-Hunters of being crooks again."

"You still don't think they did anything?" Elaine asked.

"Oh they did something alright, but really why would they just go after someone without a reason?" Felix asked.

"They could have been trying to rob him."

"I don't think so, if they wanted money they could have gone to a bank for almost as much money but for less effort. Traxon must have excellent security after all." Felix said.

"Maybe… are you saying Traxon is a crook?"

"Hey, it could happen with Fisk, it could happen with Traxon." Felix said.

"Hm… never thought of it like that." Elaine said. "Oh the waiter's finally here." She said.

"Oh good." He sighed.

Meanwhile…

"You know I still can hardly get over the lack of windows in this house." Myra said as she and Stacy walked in to the door. Both of them were carrying a few bags.

"And the two pairs of front doors." Stacy added.

"Well… it keeps sunlight out…" Lisa said from above them.

"Whoa! Geez you scared me…" Stacy said. "Okay I'm good now."

"Sorry." Lisa said, jumping down from the ceiling.

"No it's okay." Myra said. "Where's Joseph?"

"Dad's downstairs waiting on you." Lisa said. "Come on Stacy, Simon's getting impatient." She said, taking Stacy by the hand and pulling her upstairs.

"Whoa slow down." Stacy said.

"I'll be up in a minute!" Myra shouted after them before turning to the stairs leading to the basement.

"Ah glad you made it Myra." Joseph said.

"Same here, thanks for the help this morning though, that was a complicated program." Myra said.

"I'm surprised that you caught on to what I was saying so easily." Joseph said. "By the way, your help the last few nights was invaluable."

"You really think so?" Myra asked.

"No joke, with you supporting us from off-field I can focus on what I'm doing more easily, and you pick out the reports we need to pay special attention to." Joseph told her.

"Well, hey you guys are doing the dangerous stuff." She said modestly.

Upstairs…

"Come on… twenty more won't kill you." Simon said as he watched Lisa and Stacy perform push-ups.

"Why do I have to do this? I can just turn metal and get super-human strength." Stacy said, struggling a bit to do her last few push-ups.

"Think of it this way, if you're stronger in human form, I imagine you'll be even stronger when you turn metal." Simon said. "Okay, both of you get up." Simon instructed. "Take a straddle stance."

"Mm-hm." Lisa nodded. She and Stacy obeyed.

"Jab!" Simon barked.

"Ha!" They jabbed.

"Chicken neck!"

"Ha!" They swung their wrist joint upward.

"Okay, roundhouse kick."

"Ha!"

"Hey guys." Myra said, coming in to the room.

"Oh good Myra, give me fifty push-ups." Simon said.

"Huh? But I'm not even on the fi…" Myra began to argue.

"No excuses, fifty." Simon said.

"What's the point?" Stacy asked.

"You never know, Myra might be in danger and we're not around to bail her out." Simon explained. "Okay once Myra's done with her push-ups I want you guys to do as I do." He said, taking a stance with his back facing Lisa and Stacy.

"Okay." Lisa said.

"See? Why can't you two be more like Lisa, no complaints whatsoever." Simon chided.

"Oh come on… I took Traxon's goons and a few thugs no sweat before." Stacy said.

"It's not always going to be as easy as a few common thugs, I mean really, I don't have any powers and I beat you in a fight." Simon said.

"Whew…" Myra gasped. "I think I prefer my computer."

"Okay, mimic my movements." He instructed before starting a kata routine.

Meanwhile…

"Come on… it won't kill you…" Elaine said. She was standing outside the door to the men's dressing room.

"Why are we getting this again?" Felix asked through the door.

"You want to look nice for all of those impressionable young students." Elaine said.

"Yeah, I think I'll be giving them the impression of a dork in this outfit."

"Just get out of there." Elaine told him with a chuckle.

"Okay okay." Felix came out of the door in a white dress shirt, brown pants, nice brown shoes, a belt, a black and brown checkered tie, and brown gloves with his shades.

"See that isn't so bad." Stacy told him.

"Yeah yeah…" Felix sighed.

"Would you rather I get you something in pink?" Elaine teased.

"On second thought, I really make this outfit work don't I?" Felix quickly said in response.

"That's the spirit." Elaine told him. "Say did Joseph find a new manager?"

"Yeah he did."

"Maybe I could meet him."

"I don't know, he's kind of a jerk." Felix said.

"Have you two gotten to know each other well enough?" Elaine asked.

"You have no idea." He responded.

Back at Joseph's house…

"Oof!" Stacy was floored by Simon for the tenth time.

"Come on, this feels almost like Traxon's parking lot all over again." Simon told her.

"Hey I don't know a dozen different martial arts." Stacy said.

"Half a dozen would be more accurate." Simon responded.

"That's still a lot." She said.

"…" Lisa just sat against the wall quietly.

"You okay Lisa?" Myra asked.

"Yeah, just thinking about tomorrow…" Lisa said. "It's going to feel empty around here."

"Well, are you at least looking forward to tonight?" Myra asked.

"Yeah. Stacy's sleepover idea was nice." Lisa answered with a smile. "Were your parents okay with it?"

"Yeah we... just told them we were staying with a friend." Myra said. "I know Stacy is happy about this."

"Ah!" Stacy was floored yet again. "Ow…"

"If Simon doesn't make her too sore..." Myra added.

"Oi… be glad those crooks you beat up don't even know one martial art." Simon sighed.

"Okay okay poser…" Felix said, walking in to the room.

"Felix!" Lisa said happily.

"When did you get home?" Simon asked.

"I just got back actually." Felix said. "Stacy, how about you step aside and let me show you how you beat him up."

"Go right ahead." Stacy sighed.

"Oh you're on pussy cat…" Simon responded.

"Hey, you're the copycat." Felix retorted as they took their fighting stances.

That night…

"Ha!" Night-Claw just kicked a crook across the jaw and knocked him out before back-flipping over the top of three rounds of gunfire before he landed behind the gunman and knocking him out. "Cat got your tongue!?" He asked as he wheeled around, clawed someone with his toe claws before knocking that guy out.

"Don't you even get tired of jokes?" Simon's voice asked over the radio.

"That's a negative Nukenin." Felix responded before twirling around one guy and elbowing him in the back of the head before cart-wheeling out of the way of more gunfire.

"Whatever… now if you'll excuse me."

Meanwhile…

"This is the police! We have the place surrounded!" An officer blared in to a megaphone.

"And we have hostages, so don't even bother!" One of the crooks shouted back.

"…" On a nearby rooftop stood Nukenin. His costume was a black ninja outfit, a black sash around his waist that covered a belt that held a pouch, nunchaku, two sais, and a katana blade. He wore sandals with black tabi, and black gloves. His mask covered his entire face save for the eyes. Nukenin jumped to the nearest street post, slide down, and then darted past the police cars.

"Hey what the hell!?" One of the police men asked.

"Huh?" The crook stared at Nukenin before.

CRASH

"Holy crap!" Another crook watched in awe as Nukenin delivered a flying kick to the chin of the crook standing outside and came crashing through the window.

"…" The second Nukenin landed he pulled out some shuriken and hurled them at three crooks to his right.

"Ah!" He struck each of them in the arm or hands, making them drop their weapons.

"Ha!" Nukenin knocked out two other crooks with a spinning kick, an elbow thrust followed by an uppercut. One of the crooks tried to jump him from behind, but he spun around, punched him twice before palm-heeling him under the chin. "Don't tell me this is all you guys have." He said as he continued knocking down the remainder of the crooks.

Meanwhile…

BAM BAM BAM BAM

"Augh! My knee!"

"Really you guys are stupid." All-Star said. She was in a metallic form now. "I mean obviously the bullets are just going to bounce off." She said before knocking out the crook that got a bullet to his knee on accident.

"Shut it mutant!" One said, taking a crowbar and hitting her in the back of the head, only causing the crowbar to bend. "Uh…"

"Too bad!" All-Star said before punching him across the face.

"Don't forget All-Star, pull your punches. You could accidentally kill someone." Myra's voice said over the radio.

"I haven't forgotten." All-Star said. "How's everyone else doing?"

"Uh-oh… I just received a police report of a gang shootout downtown." Myra reported

"I'm close by, I can take care of it." Night-Roller said.

"Okay."

Downtown…

BAM BAM BAM BAM

"This is our turf!" One guy shouted.

"Not if we take it for ourselves!!" One guy shouted back.

"Cease and desist!" An officer shouted from behind his car.

"Desist this!" Someone shouted before firing their gun at the car, thankfully the officer took cover.

"You guys were warned." Night-Roller said to himself as he jumped from the top of the building right in to the middle of the shootout. "Last chance! Give yourselves up!" He shouted.

"Whoa it's one of the Night-Hunters."

"I don't know about this guys."

"I'm not listening to some guy in skates!" One gang member fired his gun on Night-Roller, having no effect of course.

"Okay." Night-Roller turned around and fired a single small blast of energy from his finger tips at the gang members, knocking them out with no trouble.

Meanwhile…

"Why doesn't she die!?" One guy shouted in panic after planting three bullets in Night-Princess' back.

"…" Night-Princess turned to the guy that just shot her and stared in to his eyes while her eyes glowed red.

"Uuuuuhhh…" The man she just hypnotized wheeled around and hit him with the butt of his gun.

"Augh!"

"Hiyah!" Night-Princess jumped up and delivered a spinning kick to the side of one guy's head, grabbing another guy by the top of his head and then flipping over top of him before kicking him in the back, landing smoothly on the ground.

"Try this on…" One guy was a ways away from her aiming a sniper rifle at her. "AH!" A bunch of rats jumped on the guy, frightening him in to dropping his gun.

"Good job guys." Night-Princess said to the rats before they vanished in a puff of smoke. She thought. This time she had her hair styled in to two pigtails.

"Is everything okay guys?" Night-Roller asked over the radio.

"No problem, just beat down some drug-dealers." Night-Claw responded.

"Took care of a bank robbery, the police were as grateful as ever." Nukenin said sarcastically.

"Myra just lead me to a nearby robbery, I'm taking care of it now."

"I just took care of some crooks." Night-Princess reported.

"Maybe we should call it a night for now, we have our first day of school tomorrow." Myra said.

"She's right, most of you have a long day tomorrow, we'll call it a night for now." Night-Roller said.

"Okay girls... sleepover!" All-Star shouted.

"Oi... I'm never going to be able to sleep with that noise." Night-Claw groaned.

"Just when I was beginning to have fun." Nukenin sighed.

At Nukenin's location…

"Well, I'll be on m… hold on I just spotted something." Nukenin looked down in to the street and noticed two guys sneaking up on a girl.

"Hm? AH!" The girl gasped when she noticed the guys behind her.

"Hey pretty…" One of them said, pulling out a knife.

"Care to have a little fun?" One of the other thugs asked.

"G-get away from me you freaks!" She shouted.

"Aw come on why d-OOF!!" Nukenin landed right beside him and planted a heel in to his cheek.

"Hey!" The guy with the knife ran at Nukenin and thrust his knife, Nukenin deflected the arm to the side, gut-punched him, jabbed his adam's apple, and then kicked him in the face.

"RAAAAAAAHHHH!!" The thug he kicked earlier ran at him from behind.

"…" Nukenin spun around, grabbed him by the arm and used his momentum to hurl him in to a wall.

"Th-thank you…" The girl stuttered.

"You might want to call the police for these guys, tell them you acted out of self-defense." Nukenin told her before wall-jumping up the ally as quickly as he could.

"Sure…" She said, still fazed by what just happened.

Later...

"Maybe a hair style more like this." Stacy said after she was done messing with Lisa's hair. All three of them were in their pajamas.

"I... like it." Lisa said with a smile. Stacy had fashioned her hair in to a small bun that had a ponytail coming from the center. "I think I'll start wearing this on patrol for a while."

"You know you really do have nice red hair." Myra commented. "Why do you wear that blonde wig?"

"Just in case I... well in case someone can put two and two together in the press." Lisa answered.

"Stacy... Myra, you two hungry?" Felix asked through the door.

"No thanks!" They both shouted back.

"Man... I worked so hard on these." Felix commented, looking at his plate that had a few pizza puffs.

"..." Simon then walked by, snatched one and popped it in to his mouth.

"Hey!"

"Made from scratch? Eh, not bad." Simon shrugged.

"These weren't for you!" Felix shouted.

Elsewhere...

"So, still in LA eh?"

"Yeah, you know those two new Night-Hunters?"

"What about them?"

"One of them wears a suit that's similar to that stealth suit of his."

"Cool it boys, whatever asignments you were about to take on, forget about them. You know our policty on quitting, and for his sake he better not have forgotten."

"Soon, we'll all head for LA..."

"And when that happens, his head is ours."

…**Notes…**

Originally I was going to have more in this chapter, however that ended up making this chapter a bit too long. Good to get a fair bit on content in, but I don't want to cram so much in that you get tired of reading it. So leave a review and see you next update, hopefully.


	10. A New Day for All

Chronicles of the Dusk

Thank you Shining Riku for leaving me a review, now I feel motivated to keep this story going. As for everybody else, I know there's a few of you reading but not reviewing. Sure you don't HAVE to review, but it's just a pleasant treat for authors to know whether they're doing a good job or not. Maybe then I wouldn't take so long.

When we last left off, Simon, Stacy, and Myra are all now part of the nightly routine for the Night-Hunters. All of them are ready for the new day that's coming, but who were the people talking at the end of last chapter? And just what is their motive?

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel Comics, I do own my characters and the plot.

…**New Day for All…**

"Hey Joseph how are you doing this morning?" Mr. Roberts asked.

"Just fine Mr. Roberts." Joseph responded.

"So about this new music video…" Simon started.

"Straight and to the point, that's good but there is something new to be considered about it now." Mr. Roberts interrupted.

"What?" Simon asked.

"Reps from Nokia and Motorola want product placement in the video to advertise, really badly…"

"Oh boy…" Joseph sighed.

Meanwhile…

Lisa was in her room. It had a few things added to it since she first lived here with Joseph and Felix. It had a beige fluffy carpet, and pink wall-paper. There was a fairly large closet on one side of the room that had a number of outfits, and on the other side of the room was a white desk that had a computer on it. She was currently sitting at her computer.

"…" Lisa closed the internet page she had open a moment ago. At Felix's suggestion she had started taking online classes, and she found them pretty easy. It helped to have Felix and Joseph tutor her. Although it made her online course almost too easy.

"Now that that's finished…" Lisa's eyes glowed red before a large white wolf appeared from her shadow. "Hello Louis."

"Woof!" It barked, acting almost like a dog.

"No Felix isn't here." She told Louis as she stepped out of her room, Louis walking right behind her.

"Grrrr…"

"Hey, that isn't nice." She scolded Louis.

"Hrmmm…"

Elsewhere at a later time…

"Whew…" Felix sighed. He was in the outfit he picked up with Elaine yesterday as he walked in to a room that had a coffee machine, a table, a couch, and a printer. He walked over to the printer and picked up a stack of papers that had just been printed off.

"Ah Mr. Thomas…"

"Oh hello Mr. Rhodney." Felix said to an older man that was bald.

"Enjoying your first day as a teacher here?" Mr. Rhodney asked.

"It's not bad… but then again so far I've just been passing out papers to the students to take home." Felix said.

"Well if your resume says anything it tells me that you're more than qualified to be teaching science here." Mr. Rhodney told him. "Ah finally, I swear it takes forever for this old printer to figure out that something needs printing." He commented as the printer was printing off something.

"Well I better get ready for my next few class periods Mr. Rhodney." Felix said.

"Oh I wouldn't want to hold you up now, good luck." Mr. Rhodney told Felix.

Meanwhile…

"Man… those reps just won't quit." Joseph said groggily as he stroked his head.

"They really want to have their products in the video." Simon said, handing Joseph a bottle of water.

"I don't know… I really don't need any of the stuff they're offering, and they're both offering a lot of money." Joseph sighed before he opened the bottle and took a drink from it.

"I think we might be better off giving it to Nokia." Simon said.

"Yeah but they already did deals with those rock bands."

"Ah well… let's get back to the meeting, we've got more things to worry about other than product placement, we've still got to work out what's going to be in the video, the lighting, effects…"

"Man I kind of envy Lisa and Felix now, they don't have to put up with this kind of stuff." Joseph commented.

Meanwhile…

"Fetch!" Lisa threw a tennis ball down the hallway.

"Arf!" Louis darted after the ball as quickly as he could, which was very fast. Louis easily jumped and caught the ball before it even began falling.

"Good catch." Lisa said with a smile as Louis brought the ball back.

"Grrrr…"

"Louis… it's a tennis ball, not a crook." Lisa told him disapprovingly. "Besides, there's no need to be that mean."

"Grrrrr…"

"Hey…" Lisa said, as if insulted.

Meanwhile…

"…" Felix was at the front of his room. It was a pretty decent room. There were ten tables that could hold two people at them, and five lab areas on each side of the room that had a sink, gas faucet, and a cheap computer on each of them. It was now the last period of the day, the period Felix had been waiting on.

RING

"Jeez…" The bell signaling it was time to change classes bugged his super-human hearing. Now his planning period was over and it was time for the chemistry class he had been waiting on. Sure he was exceptional in other areas of science, but chemistry was his favorite subject, and he was more than eager to teach it.

"First one here guys!" Said one guy as he and two other guys came in following him.

"Take a seat anywhere." Felix told the students as he turned to the whiteboard behind him and began writing on it.

"He's the teacher?" One of the two guys asked. Soon other students came in to the class, while Felix continued writing on the board. A few teenage girls couldn't help but smile when they saw their young teacher.

RING

"That's the bell." Felix walked over to the door and shut it. "Welcome to the last period of the day everyone, I'm Mr. Thomas and from here on I'll be teaching you…" Felix then underlined the word "Chemistry" on the whiteboard. "First let me call roll. Richard Birchwood."

"Here, I go by Rick."

"Thank you. Nathaniel Boyd."

"I go by Nathan." Said a guy who had a short black hair, brown eyes, a black goatee and mustache, and he was probably slightly taller than Felix. He had on a plain white t-shirt and orange shorts in addition to white sneakers and socks.

"Okay." Felix said as he continued through the long list of names. "Jackson Kirby."

"Call me Jack."

"Stanley Lee." Felix said.

"I go by Stan, 'nuff said."

"And… Stacy Nox?" Felix asked.

"Here." Stacy said, raising her hand. Felix noticed that Myra was sitting right beside her.

"Myra Orwell…" Felix continued, watching Myra as she raised her hand. _"I can't believe I didn't notice them."_ He thought. "And… Sheena Pryor."

"…" The last girl in the room raised her hand without saying a word. She dressed in a very gothic manner. She had a large number of ear piercings, black lipstick, lots of mascara, and she had painted her fingernails black as well. She had on a completely black dress, fishnets extending along her arms, and black shoes. She flipped away her bangs, which were streaked red, and combed back her black hair a little while giving him a highly impassive look with her blue eyes.

"…" Felix looked at her, _"I'm sensing a problem student."_ Felix thought. "Okay class, listen closely…" Felix pulled out a stack of papers from a filing folder before going around the room and passing them to each of the students. "Chemistry isn't just mixing together chemicals and hoping you get something that explodes, but instead it is studying what everything is made of, how does it interact with the world, and how can it be used for our benefit."

"So… what are these forms?" Nathan asked.

"Forms for your parents or guardians to sign, to let them know what you will be getting in to in this class. Plus it has the class rules on it." Felix answered. "There will be times when you're asked to handle dangerous chemicals, but rest assured the protective gear you'll need is available to you. Plus if you get it signed and bring it in tomorrow you'll earn yourself a free grade."

"Awesome." Jack said.

"Pft…" Sheena just shrugged and leaned back in her seat.

"Now then, as for how this class works, I hate just giving lectures so I'll be quite liberally giving lab assignments, but every now and then you will need a lecture." Felix said. "And here's the part none of you are going to like. You will have homework almost every night."

"Awww man…" Came the collective groans of a few people.

"Except on Fridays." Felix added. "Hey, you're young, but you still have better things to do with your weekends right?" Felix asked as he got out another stack of papers and began passing it around.

"What are these for?" Stacy asked as she looked at hers.

"Consider these papers your best friends for the rest of the year." Felix answered. "These sheets I'm giving you have almost everything you need to know compacted in to one small packet. Of course it doesn't have everything, but you'll find it helpful no doubt." Felix then got out another stack of papers. "And one last thing…"

"What are those for?" Rick asked.

"To get to know you guys better…" Felix said as he passed out a questionnaire. "Oh yeah and because it's the first day of school and all that, there will be no homework today."

"All right."

"That's what I'm talking about…"

"Good to know everyone's happy, okay fill out your questionnaires please." Felix instructed.

Meanwhile…

"…" Joseph was hardly getting a word in, Simon had been handling this meeting pretty well by himself despite the reps that were present practically biting tooth and nail for a deal. Joseph really only needed to speak every now and then.

"There he is…" There were two men on a nearby rooftop, both of them had on black outfits and ski masks. One of them was lying down while looking through the scope of a sniper rifle. The rifle was aimed at the office.

"Hey aim that thing carefully we don't want to cause more trouble than we have to." The other guy warned.

"Please… he's sitting down how hard can it be to hit him?"

"Aim for his head."

"Jeez man… we all do this kind of thing for a living… I know how to use a damned sniper." The sniper argued back.

BAM

Chink

"Holy crap!" One of the reps shouted when a bullet got stuck in the window.

"Out of the room!" Mr. Roberts shouted as everyone got up from their seats.

"What? A record studio with bulletproof glass!? What the f…"

"Screw it man, we can't blow our cover here. Let's go!" The other one said as he started to exit the roof.

"What was that!?" Joseph asked when they got out of the room.

"I'm calling the police on this one…" Simon grumbled as he pulled out his phone. _"Damn it… now?"_

Later…

RING

"Okay I'll see all of you tomorrow, remember to bring in your permission forms!" Felix shouted as the class left the room. "Oh yeah… Stacy, Myra."

"Yes?" Myra asked as she and Stacy approached him at the front of the room.

"Did you two sign up for this class on purpose?" Felix asked with a sigh.

"Well we needed three science credits." Stacy shrugged. "And hey, when we got our schedules and we saw your name we couldn't help but think, 'Hey this could be cool after all'." Stacy continued to explain.

"Don't expect me to give you two special treatment over this." Felix warned them.

"We don't, don't mind Stacy." Myra said.

RING

"Hm? My phone?" Felix reached for his phone and pulled it out.

"Hey… you guys tell us to turn our cell phones off and yet yours was on? Not fair…" Stacy griped, clearly just to tease Felix.

"Shhh…" Myra shushed.

"What!? You what!? Augh… okay. It's only the first day of school so I don't have anything to do just yet. I'll be right over." Felix said, quickly grabbing his coat and then hanging up. "How fast can you two get home and on your phone?"

"Um… soon why?" Myra asked.

"As soon as you get home call Joseph's house… something came up." Felix said as he dialed on his phone. "Hey Elaine… I know I promised to meet up with you for lunch or dinner or whatever… but something came up…"

"Like what?" Elaine asked over the phone.

"Uuuhhh well… it's complicated to say the least…"

"…" Myra and Stacy watched Felix as he left. As his voice trailed out of their range of hearing they gave each other a puzzled look but they decided not to pursue it further.

At Joseph's place…

"…" Felix placed the phone on to the charger and pushed a button. Simon, Joseph, and Lisa were sitting on the furniture in the living room.

"Are we on speaker now?" Myra asked through the speaker on the phone stand.

"Yes, we can hear you." Lisa answered.

"Okay so what happened?" Stacy asked. "Unlike Felix my other teachers were mean enough to give me something to do."

"Someone tried to shoot me at the record company." Joseph said.

"SAY WHAT!?"

"Joseph… being a big name star and all that I can understand that it's possible, but that is just a conjecture." Felix said.

"Yeah you're right." Joseph agreed.

"So wait… we're talking because Joseph nearly got…" Stacy started to say.

"Shh! Stacy my parents might hear us." Myra said. "Choose your words more carefully."

"Ugh… that aside, it's important that we find out about this and take care of it quickly." Simon said.

"Why? Nothing happened when you guys left right?" Lisa asked. "You're both okay."

"That's exactly it." Simon said. "I think there's a professional assassin on this one. Any amateur would've kept firing, risking getting exposed. This guy only took one shot from what I can tell and didn't try again. Meaning he's cooking up another scheme." Simon explained.

"You know… the poser just might be right about this." Felix agreed with a smile.

"Care to repeat that pussy cat?" Simon asked through gritted teeth.

"Okay then… we know that they must have been on a nearby rooftop since that meeting room was high up." Joseph interrupted. "Felix, you and Lisa can check the nearby rooftops for a scent."

"Right." Felix said.

"…" Simon stroked his chin in thought.

"That sounds like a good idea, I'll get right on checking the police reports." Myra said.

"What about the rest of us?" Stacy asked.

"We'll just do what we always do." Joseph said. "We'll wait on you guys to report in with some news."

"Okay, sounds like a plan." Felix said. "Now then… Stacy, Myra, get those forms signed." He said before hanging up on them.

"Dad will you be okay?" Lisa asked.

"I'm fine now… nothing happened." Joseph comforted her.

"Ugh… I'm going to go make sure my weapons are ready." Simon sighed as he walked upstairs.

"… Hey Joseph." Felix said as he watched Simon walk upstairs.

"Yeah?"

"I don't know about you… but something must have been bothering Simon during that meeting."

"What makes you say that?" Joseph asked.

"I could've sworn his pulse went up just a bit…" Felix said.

"Yeah… now that you mention it… his pulse did go up a little." Lisa said. "Maybe he's more nervous about this than we thought?"

"Why though? What's to be nervous about?" Felix asked suspiciously.

"Let's not worry about that now." Joseph said, putting a hand on Felix's shoulder.

"Yeah…" Felix agreed, though he couldn't help but cast a glance towards the stairs Simon went up a few minutes ago.

Later that night…

"…" Night-Princess was on the rooftop the sniper tried to shoot at the building from. "Night-Claw!"

"Coming." Night-Claw jumped over from an adjacent rooftop. "Yes?"

"There are two scents here." Night-Princess said as she got low to the ground and sniffed.

"You're right…" Night-Claw said. "You have them both memorized?"

"Yes." Night-Princess answered.

"Okay, let's go then." Night-Claw told her. "Hey support, anything from the police records?"

"Well the bullet definitely came from a sniper rifle." Myra reported over the radio. "What confuses me is what kind of bullet proof glass stops a sniper bullet?"

"I don't know…" Night-Claw sighed. "But we'd better be thankful that it did stop it."

"How's everyone else?" Night-Princess asked.

"I'm not sure… All-Star?" Myra asked.

Meanwhile…

"Ooooggg…"

"Next time think twice before mugging somebody!" All-Star scolded someone she just gut-punched without even changing in to metal. However someone was sneaking up behind her with a crowbar. "!!" Stacy turned around in time to duck it, then she grabbed the crowbar when the guy swung it again. She touched it to her fingers and soon changed her body to the metal of that crowbar.

"Wh-what!?"

"Surprise!" Stacy said before she punched him, making sure she pulled her punch enough to merely knock him out. "Yeah I'm fine." All-Star said in to the radio after she knocked him out.

"Night-Roller?"

"Doing just fine." Night-Roller said. "And how about Nukenin?"

"Um… he turned his radio off." Myra answered.

"What? Why?"

Meanwhile…

"…" Nukenin was slowly walking along the top of a rooftop by himself, looking around cautiously. He drew his two sai, twirled them in his hands a bit and then took a defensive stance. "Okay… come on out. I heard your foot slip."

"Well well… simpleton Simon can pay attention after all." A five guys in black outfits came out. Three of them had swords, one of them had a bo staff, and the last one had on brass knuckles.

"Hey look, I'm done with you guys now, so just back to your jobs." Nukenin said, cautiously looking at each of them.

"You've got it backwards Simon. You should know that you're never done with Hell's Haven. Hell's Haven is done with you…" One of them threatened.

…**Notes…**

Well here it is at long last. Read and review.

Trivia:

I referenced two legends in the comic book industry, can any of you tell me who I mentioned?


	11. Survival

Chronicles of the Dusk

Sweet! Reviews! Well anyways, nobody took a stab at who I referenced in the last chapter so I'll go ahead and say that I referenced Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, two of Marvel Comic's best writers, both of whom are largely responsible for Marvel Comic's success.

When we last left off the Night-Hunters seemed as though they were going to have a fairly normal day until a sniper nearly killed Simon. Though saved by S.H.I.E.L.D. issue bullet-proof glass, this incident sparked investigation, an investigation that Nukenin already knows the answer to. Can he get out of this alive?

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel Comics, I do own my original characters and the story itself.

…**Survival…**

"Ha!" Nukenin used his sai to deflect a bo-staff to the side, he then stabbed his free sai at the attacker's throat. The attacker was quick to duck to the side and roll away as two others with swords charged at him. Nukenin managed to block the first series of sword swings before he rolled between them, slashing one of them in the leg in the process.

"Agh!"

"Get up we have to get him!" One of the other attackers shouted. He drew back a fist before he threw it at Nukenin. Nukenin ducked the brass-knuckle, blocked the other punch and stabbed his other sai in to the attacker's stomach. "AAAAGGHH!!"

"Ha!" One of the other sword-users charged Nukenin from the side and attacked him with a bunch of one-handed swings and kicks. Nukenin put his sai away and caught the attacker by the wrist, wheeled around to his backside and continued to pull the attacker's arm behind his back.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!"

"Try fighting with a broken arm!" Nukenin kicked him from behind, stole his sword and then ran towards the edge of the roof before jumping off. Just in time since chunks of the roof scattered when a sniper bullet struck it.

"Damn, how'd we know we had snipers around here?" One of the others asked just before going in pursuit.

"Boss, Simon seems to be a lot better than we anticipated." One of the remaining guys said in to a radio underneath his mask.

"I warned you guys, you can't engage him for too long or he'll know exactly how you fight. Kill him and do it quickly. Hell's Haven cannot be known to anyone not in the underworld."

A short while later…

"Heh… damn… those guys are moving after me sooner than expected…" Nukenin sighed as he turned a street corner to catch his breath. He stopped breathing for a brief moment just in time to hear footsteps. Nukenin waited a moment, and then in one second he turned the corner and stabbed the sword forward.

SHING

"Hack…" The guy ran right in to the blade and had the sword protruding out of his back.

"Ha! Hiyah!" He quickly began fighting off the other two with his hands. He ducked one sword, gut-kicked the attacker, grabbed the other guy by the wrist and used his own momentum to throw him forward. Nukenin then thrust his knee in to the face of the guy he gut-kicked.

BAM BAM

"Whoa!" Nukenin rolled to the side right after two bullets narrowly whizzed by him. As he came out of the roll he jumped at the wall of the building, kicked off of it, and then threw three shuriken at the two gunmen, missing with one but the other two connecting with the gunmen's throats.

"There he is!"

RATATATATATATA

"Gah!" Nukenin got shot in the shoulder from above, but thankfully avoided the remainder of the bullet hail-storm by turning down an corner and bolting down the street.

Meanwhile…

"How's it going?" One guy with a sniper rifle asked in to the radio. "No he hasn't come my way. Don't worry if he comes my way I'll be able to get him."

"You…"

"Wha!" The sniper turned around to see Night-Princess standing right behind him. "!!" He quickly pointed the sniper rifle and pressed the barrel against her stomach before pulling the trigger.

BAM

"Hurgh!" Night-Princess gasped as the bullet tore a bloody hole through her stomach. She stopped to catch her breath a moment. "Don't… make this worse for yourself…" Night-Princess warned the sniper as the hole in her stomach healed itself.

"Aaaaaaahhh…" The man quivered while watching the hole close itself up.

"…" Night-Princess grabbed the man by the shoulder and pulled him closer to her face. "You're one of the two people from the roof near the record company aren't you?" She asked quietly.

"…"

"Don't bother reaching for that concealed gun under your vest I'll break it before you can pull the trigger." She said as she lowered her shades and looked in to his eyes. "Now tell me what I want to know…" She whispered as her eyes glowed red and orange.

Meanwhile…

BAM BAM BAM

"Agh!" Nukenin ducked around a corner just in time to avoid a few more bullets and shuriken. Thankfully they were hitting his armored body instead of his head.

"Got you now simpleto-OOF!!" Before that guy could use his knife he received a quick gut-punch right before Nukenin slammed his head in to a wall.

"Yeah well this simpleton just kicked your ass." Nukenin then quickly ran down the alley, turned a corner and…

"Umph… hey watch it!"

"Watch it yourself!" Nukenin shouted at the guy he bumped in to.

"Yeah you should talk!" The guy threw a punch that Nukenin easily blocked before he swung a fist in to the side of the man's head as hard as he could, dropping him instantly.

"Hm?" Nukenin noticed a motorcycle nearby and a set of keys clinking around in the guy's pockets. _"I'm going to get hell for this later. But I'm not about to stand here and die_…" He said as he ran to the motorcycle and got on it.

"Stop righ-WHOA!!"

VROOOOOOOMMMMM

Nukenin drove right at the assailants. The bad guys dived to the side in time but it at least gave Nukenin ample time to get away. Nukenin eventually made his way to the street.

"Whoa! Hey watch it!"

"…" Nukenin ignored the pedestrians as he got on the street right behind a car and started driving along the road. He ducked low to the motorcycle as a few bullets whizzed overhead. Nukenin changed lanes and began speeding down the road.

"Argh… guys he's getting away on a motorcycle." Someone on a rooftop reported.

"Pursuit team, you're up. Kill him."

"No problems boss."

Meanwhile…

"Okay… I understand." Myra said. She was at her computer at her desk and was typing on her computer furiously. She adjusted her glasses as she watched the computer screen, it had a computer generated image of the city from a top-down view, and their were five green dots indicating the locations of each of the Night-Hunters out there. She messed with a dial on her headseat radio until all of the dots except for the one indicating Nukenin's dot blinked. "Night-Roller."

"What is it Support?" Night-Roller asked.

"Night-Princess just reported in about the sniper… and it's a lot bigger than any of us expected."

"How so?" All-Star asked before a clanging sound could be heard. "Oi, you'd think they'd learn not to hit me with anything while I'm metallic." She sighed.

"Well… I figured it'd be best to find out the rest of the details later right now Nukenin's in danger." Night-Princess said.

"So I'm not the only one who's figured that out." Night-Claw said casually.

"When did you find out?" Night-Roller asked.

At Night-Princess' location…

"…" Night-Princess was leaping across rooftops quickly as she listened to Night-Claw explain things.

"I found out just now… Support where is Nukenin?"

"He's… heading towards the harbor roughly South of your locations Night-Claw and Night-Princess…" Myra answered.

"Okay, Night-Princess and Night-Claw go and help him out whether he wants it or not." Night-Roller told them.

"Okay." Night-Princess said as she skid to a stop on one rooftop before she transformed in to a wolf and began running in a different direction.

"Aye aye captain!" Night-Claw responded.

"This isn't a boat…" All-Star said with a giggle. "But… how come I can't go?"

"Because you have school." Night-Roller and Night-Claw answered simultaneously.

Meanwhile…

VROOM

BAM BAM BAM BAM

"Dammit…" Nukenin cursed under his breath. He reached in to his pouch as he weaved through the relatively low traffic. He looked over his shoulder and threw his shuriken. He successfully struck the tires of three of the bikes behind him.

"AAAAAAAAHHH!!" A few of them screamed as they veered out of control.

"Gotcha now!" One guy caught up and drew a short sword from under his vest.

"Don't you know you need to wear a helmet when riding on a bike!" Nukenin shouted as he drew his own sword and began sword-fighting with his attacker while driving. They temporarily separated to go around an oncoming car before driving back towards each other.

CLANG CHINK

"Rah!" Nukenin then kicked the guy, causing his attacker to lose his balance. "Whoa!" He narrowly avoided more bullets as he took a ninty-degree turn down a street. As he went down the practically empty street he took noticed of some nearby warehouses and the practically empty street. "Ugh… can't believe I'm entertaining this thought…" He did a U-turn and turned around to meet his attackers.

"He wants to play chicken now? Fine!" The three remaining motorcyclists charged him while firing their guns.

"…" Nukenin ducked low to his bike. He then hopped up on the seat, did a hard right, causing the bike to slide towards his attackers. He almost lost his balance but he managed to jump over the heads of his attackers as his bike crashed in to the bikes of the other three. He pulled out three knives and threw them at the motorcyclists.

"Hm? Hurgh…" Was the general noise the three of them made when the knives pierced their foreheads.

"…" Nukenin drew his sword and bolted for the warehouse. The gate wasn't much of an issue, he just swung his sword at it and tore his way through before jumping up the crates stacked next to a warehouse window.

CRASH

"Whew…" After Nukenin landed he took a moment to catch his breath. _"This won't last long… but it is a moment's reprieve."_ He didn't bother sitting down, he knew he'd just have to get back up any minute now. _"Maybe I should just radio in the situation… no… then that would involve a hell of a lot of explaining… augh I should have thought of this BEFORE I joined up with those guys. Damn it." _

BOOM

"!!" The warehouse double doors flew in to the room, charred from an explosion.

"Come out Simpleton Simon… we know you're in here…" Said a woman in the same black outfit as the several others that walked in behind her.

"_Okay… go for the ones with guns first…"_ Nukenin thought. He then quickly bolted at the attackers, sword in one hand and shuriken in the other hand. "Hah!!"

"Hurgh!" Nukenin hit several gunmen in the throats with his shuriken. Though some of them pulled their triggers in surprise. Thankfully taking down a few others.

BAM BAM BAM

"…" Nukenin acrobatically flipped and somersaulted away from the bullets. No he wasn't fast enough to dodge bullets, but he sure could make himself a harder target to hit. "Ha!"

CLANG

"Come and get me bastards!!" Nukenin shouted as he kicked away a swordsman whose sword he just blocked. Two others approached him with nunchaku. He spun around them, stabbed one and then back-handed the other. "AH!" A few bullets hit his backside, while a few shuriken flew at him and hit him on his arms and legs.

"Swarm him!" A few dozen guys were busting in through the windows now, all of them armed with swords, knives, or throwing weapons. A few of them even had guns.

"Like hell you will!" Nukenin shouted as he expertly weaved through the crowd of assassins. He flipped over the top of a few, landed and began throwing punches, kicks, and sword slashes to the several around him. Sadly they weren't common crooks, they knew how to fight so it took a fair bit more punching and kicking to take them out.

"You won't last! Give it up!" One guy shouted as he pulled the trigger on his gun.

"…" Nukenin moved out of the bullet's path in time as he grabbed one guy by his ankle, lifting him up in to the air, and causing him to hit one guy. Nukenin then had to fend off several more with his sword, occasionally turning around to kick someone. He quickly spun out of the way of more attacks only for someone to try and stab their sword in to his back. "Grrrrr…"

"Gotcha…" One guy was aiming his machine gun at Nukenin while Nukenin was preoccupied.

RATATATATATATATATA

"No!!" Night-Princess suddenly appeared and took all of those bullets in the back.

"Hm? What the f-OOF!!"

"What are you doing here?" Nukenin asked after he knocked one guy out and before resuming his fighting.

"Are you okay?" Night-Princess asked as she spin-kicked one guy across the head before picking one guy up and throwing him at some of the gunmen.

"Forget about me! You can't get involved in this!" Nukenin shouted back at her before throwing more shuriken to his left. "Augh!" He shouted as someone got his back badly with a strong sword slash. "Even in body-armor…" He grunted before elbowing that guy.

"What do you mean I can't get involved!?" Night-Princess yelled back as she dodged a few attacks and allowed a few people to stab her before she knocked them out with well-placed back hands or solid kicks.

"Augh… I can't explain right now…" Nukenin responded.

"What is with this kid? We can't kill her." One guy sighed.

"This isn't the first time I've encountered someone with a healing factor, either decapitate them, or make them bleed faster than they can heal." One of the others said.

"Got it…"

"Louis!!" Night-Princess shouted as a she and Nukenin were getting surrounded.

"ARF!!" Louis barked before he jumped on someone's back and began biting at them.

"Ah!"

Meanwhile…

"Geez… noisy down there… don't tell me they're having this hard a time with Simpleton Simon…" A woman sighed. She and twelve others were on top of the roof of the warehouse with explosives.

"Who knows… but let's set these up and bury him. Then we need to get out of here."

"…" Night-Claw crawled up behind the group silently. Thankfully they were all facing the same way at this point. He quickly grabbed one guy by his mouth before slamming his fist in to the side of his head, knocking him out. He then bolted at one guy and delivered a flying kick.

"Hm? What!?"

"Geez you guys are slow…" Night-Claw said in a ho-hum manner.

BAM BAM BAM

"I mean normally common crooks notice me BEFORE I knock two guys out. Oh and Ray Charles could probably aim better than any of you guys too…" Night-Claw said as he dodged bullets back and forth before knocking them out with quick punches.

Back inside…

"Ha!" Nukenin gut-punched one guy, turned to kick and slash three others before spin-kicking the guy he gut-punched. He then had to fend off the attacks of a few guys that didn't stay down a moment ago.

"They're persistent…" Night-Princess said through gritted teeth as she roundhouse kicked someone in the kneecap.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH!!" He shouted as his knee was bent out of place.

"Ha!" One woman tried to decapitate Night-Princess, but Night-Princess caught the blade with her hand and then upper-cut the woman under the chin. Night-Princess then flipped over the top of two others. While they were distracted Nukenin ran at them and wrapped his arms around their necks.

"Get them!" Nukenin shouted as they struggled to get out of his grip.

"Ha!" Night-Princess punched one across the face and just before the remaining one stabbed Nukenin in the arm she kicked him in the cheek with enough force to knock him out. "Whew… now are you okay?"

"…" Nukenin stayed silent as he turned away to walk out. "I told you that you shouldn't get involved…"

"Oh now that's just rude…" Night-Claw said as he walked in.

"Wha… you too!? Auuuuugh do you guys know what you're getting yourselves in to!?" Nukenin shouted.

"Ow… you mind… super-human hearing…" Night-Claw said.

"And really? You think you can just joke your way out of everything!? Do you even get how serious this is? These guys are going to kill us!" Nukenin shouted.

"Why?" Night-Princess asked.

"…" Nukenin seemed to hesitate when she asked this.

"Why is a good question… think you could spare a few details?" Night-Claw asked.

"I'll tell you when you can take this seriously!" Nukenin snapped.

"…" Night-Claw got an angry look on his face. He walked up to Nukenin, getting in his face.

"What?" Nukenin asked.

"…" Night-Claw didn't respond, he simply punched punched Nukenin in the head with a tremendous amount of force, knocking him out cold.

"Eep!" Night-Princess squeaked. "Did you have to hit him?" She asked quietly.

"He'll calm down when he when he wakes up… and he better because now he's got a lot of explaining to do." Night-Claw said as he picked up Nukenin and started walking out.

"…" Night-Princess followed Night-Claw out as she took a breath from her inhaler. "Is… is he going to be in trouble?" She asked, though she was sure that she already knew the answer.

"…" Night-Claw sighed. "That depends on what he has to say for himself."

…**Notes…**

Well now that my school year is finally over I might be able to make more time for myself now! So read and review.


	12. Trust

Chronicles of the Dusk

When we last left off Nukenin had to fight for his life as operatives from Hell's Haven chased him all over LA with guns blazing and blades sharpened. Eventually Night-Claw and Night-Princess caught up and managed to ward off Nukenin's attackers Nukenin still kept a tight lip. What is he hiding?

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel Comics, I do own my original characters and the story itself.

…**Trust…**

"Did you have to hit him?"

"Why is that I come home… and the first thing you ask is the same thing that Night-Princess already asked me?" Night-Claw before he pulled his mask off with his free hand. Over his shoulder he was still carrying an unconscious Nukenin.

"Yeah but now he's going to be really mad when he wakes up. You know that right?" Joseph asked Felix with a sigh.

"Ummm… I think I'll go get started on my online classes before I go to sleep." Lisa said, knowing that it was probably best to leave them alone now.

"Ugh… I'll take him to the living room." Felix sighed.

"Then we'll talk." Joseph told him.

"I understand." Felix responded as he walked upstairs.

"Man… you'd think it'd get less complicated with more people on the team." Joseph sighed to himself. _"Ah who am I kidding? Before Fury vanished he had to deal with a whole nation of superheroes and super-villains, things couldn't have possibly been simple for him. Though he sure made it look easier." _

Elsewhere…

"…" Myra was sitting up in her bed. She had shut off her computer some time ago since patrol had finished. Right now she was just waiting on Stacy to get home. Unlike the others Stacy wasn't incredibly athletic or super-humanly fast.

"Myra…" Stacy whispered as she crept in to through the bedroom door.

"About time you got home." Myra sighed in relief.

"Hey I can't move as fast as everyone else." Stacy retorted as she opened up the closet to look for something to sleep in.

"Maybe if you could carry something made of titanium around…" Myra though out loud.

"Titanium? What?" Stacy asked with almost a laugh.

"Yeah but hear me out. Titanium is lighter than steel but is still as strong or stronger than most steels. I think that you would be just as strong as if you were made of steel but still be light-weight enough to jump or run more easily." Myra explained.

"And how do you know this?" Stacy asked.

"I've been looking up stuff. You know… to help you." Myra said before she pulled the covers over top of herself.

"Hmmm well… yeah… I guess I see your point." Stacy said with a yawn. "I wonder what the deal with Simon is tonight…" Stacy said out loud.

"I think we'll find out tomorrow. Right now we need to get to sleep." Myra yawned. "Good night."

"Good night."

Back at the mansion…

"Uuuuuuuuggggghhh… hm? What!?" Simone woke up with a start. He noticed his shirt and mask were taken off. He had some cotton pads tapped over parts of his body. Some of them were fairly red. _"Oh yeah… those are probably the places I got shot." _Simon thought. _"Ugh my head is killing me… oh no wonder… that's right the freakin' pussy cat knocked me out! Ugh I am going to have quite a few choice words for him." _Simon then stood up furiously and stomped upstairs.

In Joseph's sound room…

"Personally, I'm still finding this all a little hard to believe." Joseph said.

"I'm only telling you what Lisa and I found out. But even with her hypnotism quite get all of the details. Apparently that gun she smelled on the guy she caught wasn't meant for her." Felix explained.

"Are you saying…" Joseph began to ask, though he hesitated since it was a terrible question to ask.

"Yeah, and the guy I found, he put a gun to his head when he realized he couldn't beat me. Thankfully I knocked the gun out of his hand before he did anything. These guys don't want to be found out that's for sure." Felix said.

"Hmmm… if they're after Simon…"

"Yeah about Simon. He knows these guys. I think he knew about this for a while now." Felix said.

"What makes you say that now?" Joseph asked.

"Think about it, I told you how odd he's been acting ever since that sniper bullet thing. He knows that someone is trying to whack him, and he isn't telling us. You didn't hear how defensive he was getting when Lisa and I were there with him." Felix continued.

"Felix calm down and think about this." Joseph urged.

"Sorry… sorry." Felix said. "But Joseph, you can't overlook this. He DOES know something."

"I know. And I'll handle this." Joseph assured Felix.

"Am I… interrupting something?" Simon asked as he came in to the room.

"Good to see you're awake." Felix said almost sarcastically.

"Yeah no thanks to you." Simon responded harshly. "Really… knocking me out. What the hell is up with that?"

"Well calling a cab seemed out of the question…" Felix shrugged as he headed for the door. "And as for the minor bullet wounds, well the hospital would have charged a fortune when I could do it for free. Aren't you lucky?" Felix continued to barb as he walked out the door.

"One… more… word… come on. I dare ya." Simon said.

"That's enough both of you!" Joseph nearly shouted. "Simon, we do have to talk." Joseph told him.

"Damn…" Simon sighed. _"Simon you idiot… you should've known this was coming."_

"Simon…"

"Alright fine." Simon said, shutting the door behind him. "Sorry for nearly blowing my top like that. His constant joking just gets on my nerves."

"Simon… do you know why Felix tells jokes like that? Even when he's fighting a bunch of crooks that wouldn't hesitate to kill someone?" Joseph asked.

"There's a reason?" Simon asked surprised.

"There's plenty of reasons." Joseph said. "It annoys his opponents, and you know that you don't think straight when you're annoyed. Second of all it helps him deal with any doubts or insecurities he might be having. But there's one reason above all of that."

"And that is…"

"It keeps him calm." Joseph answered.

"Calm?"

"We explained to you, Stacy, and even Myra what happens to Felix when he gets too angry or too scared. Well Felix's mind is almost always in the middle of a battle." Joseph told him.

"In the middle of a battle? Sounds a bit dramatized to me." Simon told him.

"But it's true. Felix told me himself that in his mind he has his human self, and his cat instinct locked up in his mind. Most of time his human side is dominant. But every fight that Felix gets in to, he tells me that more and more it excites his wild animal instincts. The animal side of him wants to lash out, show how powerful it really is, not hold back the way Felix does."

"But wait… if that's true then how does he stay calm in… oh." That's when it hit Simon.

"That's right. Believe it or not telling himself a joke works wonders. It keeps him humane. Keeps him in control." Joseph said. "Felix always worries himself that he might lose it when we're around, and that he'll really hurt one of us. That's why he tells us this side of himself, so that when it happens he hopes we can stop him."

"…" Simon sighed. _"A second ago I could have wrung his neck… Felix really puts up with all of that?"_

"But Simon, we're not here to talk about Felix. Though like Felix, if you could just tell us what is going on we can help you." Joseph said.

"Hold on… with Felix the issue is he could go nuts and kill us. I'm not fighting a wild animal all the time." Simon retorted instantly.

"Simon, as tonight has proven this could kill a lot of people." Joseph said. "Simon I wanted you on this team because you bring something we need to this team. And when we invited you in to the team we wanted you in AS a member of the Night-Hunters, not a solo act."

"Team or not this is a personal problem, a personal problem that could get you guys killed if you get too deep in this. That's why I can't let you guys get involved." Simon argued back.

"Oh come on man. The sniper, the across town motorcycle chase, the big fight at the warehouse you have to get real about this!" Joseph argued, beginning to raise his voice. "This won't end unless you stop taking all this on yourself!"

"I'm a mercenary; this wouldn't be the first thing I've taken on myself." Simon said.

"You're not a mercenary anymore. You're a hero, and you're one of the team."

"…" Simon sighed after Joseph told him these words.

"Whether you tried to protect us or not, the fact is that we are involved." Joseph said. "If one of us is in trouble we have their backs, and we are not about to go back on that."

"So… what? Tonight was just the small fry, if they have to they'll bring in guys much more dangerous than any of us." Simon said.

"…" Joseph smiled a bit. "Does this mean you're going to tell us?"

"Fine, but you're not going to like this. And… maybe it's better if we get the pussy cat and Lisa in here." Simon told him.

"Okay…" Lisa said as she opened the door with Felix standing right behind her.

"So you are going to say something." Felix said as he and Lisa walked in.

"…" Simon sighed pretty heavily. "Yeah… I will."

Meanwhile…

"Hrrrrrrrrnnnnngggghhh…" The old man from Hell's Haven was sitting at a table in a bar by himself, watching all the wild drunks with disdain. The old man had to resist the temptation to whip out the concealed gun he had on him when some of them danced by his table. But he was a professional, he knew better.

RING

"Hmmm… yes?" The old man answered his cell phone. "Is that so? So it isn't over yet and we have no idea where they disappeared to. Fine, how soon can you bring me the photos? Good, no problem the guys I need to talk to will be here in thirty minutes anyways." The old man said before hanging up the phone. _"Knew I would regret letting him in, and now here we are…"_

The old man sat quietly, puffing on a cigarette while the rest of the bar went wild. He only looked up when someone in a black jacket walked in. "You bring the photos?"

"Yeah they're in my pocket." He said, taking a seat at the same table as the old man. "So where are these guys?"

"They'll be here any minute." The old man replied.

"Really, Hell's Haven hiring OTHER mercenaries. Personally I'm against it." The other man said quietly.

"Hmph, you guys didn't manage to do it, and let's face it, Hell's Haven is ill-equipped to handle mutants right now."

"But some of us have taken down mutants before."

"Yeah but those that did either died while chasing Simon or followed our policy on avoiding capture." The old man said.

"Ah this must be the place." A woman with blue spiky hair and a nose ring walked in to the bar followed by a man with a red flat-top hairstyle and an eye patch. Both of them had on loose fitting jackets.

"Hey check her out…" One of the younger guys at the bar said.

"Hm? You say something dahling?" The woman asked, she had an English accent.

"What are you doing?" The man she was with asked, he also had an English accent.

"Oh… interested babe?" The guy from the bar asked her.

"Oh… yes…" She said as she walked over. Once she was close to him she delivered a really fast punch to his cheek. "And that's what I do to creeps who are thinking about getting lucky." She said through gritted teeth.

"Oh you…" He was about to get up when she pointed her hand at him. "W-w-what!?"

"Oh… you like?" She asked. Her hand and forearm had a metallic gauntlet on it, the fingertips had sparks had sparks coming from them.

"She's a mutie!" One of the bar guys shouted.

"Hands off punks." The man with red hair threatened when he showed his arm, which had a metal device with a barrel on it and a hose going in to the jacket. "Hands off… and no one gets fried." He said as he pressed a button on his palm. A stream of flame then shot out from the barrel.

"Oh let me have my fun would you?" The lady asked.

"Boss don't tell me…"

"That's two of them…" The old man grunted.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" The woman laughed maniacally as lightning bolts streamed from her fingers and hit all of the lights hanging from the ceiling.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!" This caused most of the men to run out of the bar screaming.

Meanwhile…

"…Hell's Haven has been around for a long time, much longer than I've been there." Simon was explaining to Joseph, Felix, and Lisa.

"Okay, so we're talking about your old mercenary group… that doesn't entirely explain why they want to kill you." Joseph said.

"Or why they're willing to kill themselves to keep their lips sealed." Felix added.

"Dead men tell no tales." Simon quoted. "Hell's Haven does not exist. Not to the average person. Hell's Haven only exists to those who are in the underworld we call crime. And they intend to keep it that way."

"Wait… let me get this straight, they're willing to kill anyone outside of the loop that knows about Hell's Haven."

"We're dead." Felix sighed.

"That's right Joseph. Oh, and the pussycat's right too." Simon added.

"Hsssssss…" Felix hissed at Simon.

"You don't quit Hell's Haven unless Hell's Haven believes you're ready to quit, and if any of them are captured the policy requires them to commit suicide to avoid talking." Simon said. "I quit… on my terms. That's not acceptable for them."

"But… if you knew about this why didn't you just tell us?" Lisa asked with concern in her voice.

"Because if they had any inclination of you guys knowing they would have targeted you as well." Simon said.

"Well genius, we're in the freakin' papers together, I personally think they already were making a connection." Felix told him.

"…" Simon sighed after Felix said this.

"…" Joseph had a pondering look on his face. After a slight pause he opened his eyes. "Simon… how strong is Hell's Haven?"

"Well as I finally proved to them tonight, I am better than a lot of them. But the fact is that there are a lot more of them. I know some of them have killed mutants before, and tonight we likely took down the worst fighters of the bunch." Simon said.

"Hmmm… yet some of them still knew how to fight well." Felix added.

"That… sounds like trouble." Lisa said.

"…" Joseph leaned back in his chair to think. There was a pause among the group as they sat there, waiting on someone to say something. Finally Joseph sat back up and gave a heavy sigh. "Simon… just know that I do trust you. But the fact is that out of all of us you're in the most danger here. I don't want you suited up for the next few nights."

"Wait… what!? So what I'm benched basically?!" Simon shouted.

"I'm… going to get some shut eye." Felix said, knowing that now would be an excellent time to leave the room.

"…" Lisa simply snuck away without saying a word.

"Simon I don't want to do this, but it wouldn't do you any good to go out there, become a target, cause more of a ruckus like tonight, and get yourself killed." Joseph explained.

"I could take on most of this team in a one-on-one fight, and I'm the only one besides you that doesn't have any powers!" Simon argued.

"You walk out there, civilian or costume, you're painting a huge target on your head for them to hit!" Joseph said, raising his voice.

"Oh so now I'm also having to do my managing job on the bench too!?"

"Until this blows over!"

"This won't blow over unless I do something about this!"

"I'm only trying to make sure you don't get killed by these guys! We'll get to the bottom of this and we'll take care of it!" Joseph shouted.

"You don't know about these guys! I do!" Simon yelled back.

"You can help by telling us all you know." Joseph said, still having a strong tone but without yelling.

"This is my problem! Team or no team you can't just expect me sit here and do nothing about it!" Simon yelled before heading for the stairs in a huff.

"…" Joseph simply slumped back down in his seat, stroking his forehead. _"Did I… really make the right choice? This is just another one of those moments I really wonder if I'm cut out for this…" _Joseph thought. _"I… better get Felix and remind him that the girls need to know about this too… Simon please trust me on this one."_

Back at the bar…

"Impulsive as always sis. Really you're going to get us both killed like that one of these days." The red haired man scolded the blue haired woman. Those two were sitting at the table with the old man, his operative, and two others.

"Oh don't talk like that to me just because you're the older one." The woman snapped back.

"Can we talk more about the job? I hear this involves muties…" This came from a man in tights that were mostly black though he had red on part of the chest all of the arms, boots, and gloves, though he had black cuffs on the wrists. He also had a black mask that had red on the top of the head and the chin.

"Care to repeat that term?" The woman hissed.

"Enough!" The Old man shouted. "Here's that assignment." The man placed five pictures on the table that were clipped from newspapers and one photograph. "These are pictures of the Night-Hunters, I'm sure you've heard of them." The old man said.

"One of them… is this guy, Simon Boulder." The old man's operative said, pointing to the photograph of Simon and Nukenin's newspaper picture. "Simon is your primary target."

"And the other four?" The red-haired man asked.

"Kill them. Though the main priority is Simon take the other four down. Odds are they know about Hell's Haven and we can't have that." The old man said.

"Very well then. The advance?" This question came from the last one at the table. She was a very attractive woman with long black hair, green eyes, a red headband, a tight black top, and black pants. Despite her attractive appearance, one look in her eyes would tell you just how deadly she is.

"Here." The operative slid all four of them a stack of hundreds bundled together.

"Now then… do this job, and whoever brings me the head of one of them gets the rest. But you'd best get it done." The old man looked at the blue-haired woman. "Surge."

"Hm hm hm hm." Surge chuckled as sparks came from her hand.

"Sunfire." The old man looked at Surge's red-haired brother.

"Of course." Sunfire responded.

"Deadpool." The old man looked at the man in black and red tights.

"If I get to kill these freaks, of course." Deadpool said.

"And Elektra." The old man looked at the black-haired woman.

"Hm." She simply smiled as she pulled out a sai, twirled it between her fingers and stabbed it in to the table. "Consider it done."

…**Notes…**

Read and review and let me know what you think of this new development.


	13. A Killer Night

Chronicles of the Dusk

When we last left off Simon, after a brief confrontation with Joseph, told the team everything he knew about Hell's Haven, though he still was not satisfied with Joseph's decision to stay at home. Meanwhile, Hell's Haven has decided to hire four dangerous operatives to handle the Night-Hunters. Can they survive against the likes of Surge, Sunfire, Deadpool, and most of all Elektra?

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel Comics, I do own my original characters and the plot.

…**A Killer Night…**

Joseph was in a recording room rapping in to a microphone for a new single. Outside the room were a few techs managing the soundboard and Mr. Roberts along with two people, one of which was giving Mr. Roberts a cup of coffee.

"Okay… High Roller try that verse again… the music was interfering with the recording this time." One of the techs instructed.

"Ah, alright you got it." Joseph responded before taking a drink from some bottled water.

"Hey where's Simon today?" Mr. Roberts asked.

"Oh, according to this report we received, he is supposedly fulfilling a request that High Roller made to him personally." One of the people next to Mr. Roberts answered.

"Like what? Job training or something?"

Meanwhile…

"Hah!" Simon was wielding a wooden practice sword and hitting a training post that had a bucket head on top of it. He was getting progressively more aggressive with his swings as he hit it with the sword.

"You know… you shouldn't be too mad." Lisa told him softly. She was doing some sort of routine upside down on the ceiling.

"Give me two reasons not to be mad about this." Simon practically dared, wiping sweat off of his brow before taking a stance griping the sword. He then proceeded to whack the training post.

"Dad's just trying to keep you safe." Lisa told him. Lisa then fell from the ceiling, flipped and landed on her feet. "Dad's also trying to make sure everyone is safe like this." Lisa then began to fly towards the ceiling as if she were falling towards it but then flew towards the wall in a similar fashion and had to flip to land on it.

"Well he's… what are you doing?" Simon asked as he watched Lisa continuously go from wall-to-wall, then from wall to ceiling and ceiling to floor and anything in between.

"Well you know how dad thinks I affect gravity to an extent. Like my personal gravitational attraction or something like that?" Lisa asked Simon.

"Yeah?"

"Well I think he's right because whenever I make like I'm trying to cling to another surface it feels like I'm falling towards it." Lisa said. "So I'm trying to get used to changing it mid-jump or mid-fall… I figure I can use this as a big surprise factor." Lisa explained.

"Yeah, guess it'd be odd to fall on your butt on the wall." Simon commented. "And this was your dad's idea?"

"Well, I got the idea from his theory." Lisa said as she jumped off the wall, did a flip and landed on the same wall, but then she fell to the floor and nearly landed flat on her face if she didn't put her hands up in time. "Yipe…"

"Ahem… well…" Simon tried not to chuckle at that. "But still, you put a lot of faith in him you know that?" Simon asked, turning to face the training post before whacking it with the practice sword again.

"Not just him, I trust all of you." Lisa said.

"Excuse me?" Simon asked.

"I know that if I get in danger I have faith that the rest of you will do anything to help me. And that's all dad is trying to do for you." Lisa told him from the wall behind the training post.

"Well his method… of helping… really… pisses… me off!" Simon said through gritted teeth before knocking the bucket head off of the training post. "Ugh… I think I'm going to take a nap." Simon sighed as he headed for the door.

"Hey Simon…" Lisa said sympathetically. "Please don't be mad."

"Hmmm…" Simon opened the door just as Lisa changed her orientation for the door.

"Wah!" Lisa grabbed the edge of the door and grabbed the door-frame as if she was clinging to an edge for dear life. However Simon just ignored this as he walked down the hallway.

"Gah… and the lack of windows around here is just so gloomy." Simon sighed under his breath.

"…" Lisa couldn't help but give Simon a sympathetic look as she put her feet back on the floor. Her constant gravity changing had turned her eyes purple and starting to turn red. "I… think I'll have some serum before taking a nap." She said quietly.

Elsewhere…

"This city is so dull."

"Cool it Surge." Sunfire scolded his sister. Surge and Sunfire were walking down the streets of LA, apparently sightseeing.

"But seriously… only the very few old people around here are even giving us attention." Surge complained in a bored tone.

"Well, people stick out like us all the time around here apparently." Sunfire commented wryly as he looked at a group of three teenagers who had their hair dyed multiple colors and had either lip or nose piercings.

"Maybe I should short out all of the electronics in that Radio Shack?" Surge said with a twisted smile.

"And cause a scene?" Sunfire asked. "Mutants still aren't quite, quote/unquote, in right now."

"Oh just because your only power is not taking a bruise is no reason to be such a kill-joy." Surge taunted.

"Surge…" Sunfire snarled.

"Oh pull that stick out of your ass; I was just having a little fun." Surge sneered.

Meanwhile…

"Okay… any questions?" Felix asked his chemistry class. One of the girls in his class raised her hand. "Yes Bridget?"

"Why is that section of the periodic table down below the rest of it?" The student asked.

"It's actually a lot simpler than you might think." Felix said. "Any guesses class?" Nobody raised their hand or showed any intention of saying something. "What? No one? Ugh… printing reasons. Scientists find it a lot easier print when they separate those two rows." Felix answered.

RING

"That's the bell, I'll see you tomorrow." Felix told them. "Stacy and Myra… a moment please."

"What's up?" Stacy asked as she and Myra waited for the rest of the students to leave.

"I need to fill you in about what's going on. And I can't sugar-coat this." Felix said very seriously.

"What's going on?" Myra asked.

"The whole team might be in serious danger here. Those guys that Simon was dealing with last night, they're from a really dangerous mercenary team, and no one is allowed to know about them and live to tell about it." Felix summed up.

"Wait what? We're fighting mercenaries?" Stacy asked quietly.

"Pretty much. Oh don't worry Myra you should be safe, you're never on the field." Felix reassured Myra, and he couldn't notice that Stacy seemed more relieved at that as well. "But seriously, these guys aren't average convenience store robbers or muggers, they won't hesitate to kill." Felix warned Stacy.

"Hey relax, I've gotten out of near-death situations already." Stacy said.

"Stacy this is serious. To be honest I'd almost prefer you sat tonight out as well." Felix said.

"As well?" Both Stacy and Myra asked.

"What I mean by that is that Simon is being benched for his own safety since he's their main target." Felix quickly explained.

"Hm… well just because these guys are hanging around I'm not just going to sit out." Stacy argued.

"Well hey, it's not my call, but I want to stress how dangerous the next few nights are really going to be." Felix said.

"It'll be alright." Stacy said confidently.

"But you do…" Felix started to say something.

"Oh come on I'm not THAT green at this am I?" Stacy asked with a smile before walking out the door.

"Myra please keep an extra eye on Stacy tonight." Felix told Myra.

"I always do…" Myra sighed, even though she couldn't help but crack a smile.

"How far back do you guys go?" Felix asked before pulling out his cell phone.

"Since we could walk practically." Myra said with a smile before she walked out of the classroom.

"Interesting." Felix said with a smile as he put his phone to his ear.

Meanwhile…

Simon was sitting beside the phone in the living room, waiting impatiently for the other end to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Joseph…" Simon began.

"Hey Simon. You doing alright?" Joseph asked on the other end.

"Oh fine… just fine except that I'm stuck in here for the entire day and night!" Simon practically yelled.

"Simon, please don't bring this up now." Joseph said. "Hm… hold on a sec."

"Hey Joseph it's Felix." Felix said from the other end.

"Felix? What do you want now pussycat?" Simon asked.

"Simon? Joseph did you put us on three-way?" Felix asked.

"Yes I did." Joseph answered firmly.

"You just did that so that you could dodge the subject without completely blowing me off." Simon accused.

"What subject? Don't tell me you're still miffed about missing out on tonight." Felix retorted.

"Of course I'm miffed!"

"Whoa whoa whoa! Calm down I put us on three-way so all three of us could have a discussion at once about this like adults." Joseph told them.

"Okay well here's my statement… I shouldn't be sitting tonight out!" Simon said.

"Simon…" Joseph began to say.

"He's benching you so you don't get killed." Felix said.

"Felix can you let me s…" Joseph was about to say.

"This coming from the guy who nearly got his butt kicked by me when we first met." Simon barbed at Felix.

"Wait don't…"

"Hey! Was that deliberate provocation? I do believe that was deliberate provocation!" Felix responded.

"Guys cool it." Joseph sighed.

"We never finished that fight and you know it!" Felix argued.

"Fact is that I could have won! So I really shouldn't be benched!" Simon argued.

"It's because you're being so hot-headed that you are benched! Isn't that right Joseph?" Felix asked.

"Felix…"

"If we got benched over being hot-headed you'd be sitting out a lot more than me! Right Joseph?" Simon asked.

"I'm hanging up." Joseph sighed.

"Wait a minute!" Simon shouted. Too late, Joseph hung up and so Simon put the receiver down in frustration. "…" Simon simply sat in the chair, deep in thought. _"Why should I have to sit out? I'm the target here, not them. It doesn't end unless I end it… augh!"_

Meanwhile…

"Whew…" Elaine walked out of a restaurant looking decently tired.

"Would a lovely lady like a lift?" Felix asked, putting his cell phone away.

"Felix! Sheesh you could have told me you were coming to pick me up." Elaine said, getting in the passenger's seat nonetheless.

"Well you don't own a car and I knew your shift was over by now." Felix said.

"I wish, I have to cover the night shift for one of the lazier co-workers." Elaine sighed.

"Ah yeah… co-workers can really give you problems." Felix said.

"You have problems like that too? I wouldn't think schooling would have co-worker problems." Elaine pointed out.

"You have no idea." Felix sighed as he turned the car on. "So where shall we go?"

"Anywhere other than a restaurant." Elaine answered.

"As if I'm that rich anyways." Felix responded with a laugh.

Meanwhile…

"Hey Mr. Roberts…"

"Joseph… what can I do for my star?" Mr. Roberts asked invitingly. "Coffee, maybe a little something for your little girl…"

"That's generous of you but I just want to ask you a question…" Joseph said.

"Ah Joseph is this one of those second thoughts on the new single deals? Joseph we've been over this… we won't know if it's a hit or miss unless we release it."

"No not that." Joseph said. "All I'm asking is how do you know how to deal with an employee that doesn't agree with a decision you make, even if you're sure that this decision is what's best for them and for the company?" Joseph asked.

"This have something to do with Mr. Boulder?"

"Not… exactly."

"Well it's simple. You just let it be." Mr. Roberts answered.

"Let it be?"

"Yep, if they don't like a decision how they'll deal with it is up to them. If they want to quit I can't be responsible for them any longer, and if they do something rash that they deserve to get fired for that's also up to them. But if they work out their problems for a decision in the right way, then it'll all come together and make things better for everyone." Mr. Roberts explained.

"I see…" Joseph responded. _"Yeah… but how will it work out if too many people have their lives on the line?"_

RING

"Hm? Hello?"

"Joseph, I won't be back to the mansion but I will be joining you on patrol nonetheless, just wanted to tell you not to wait for me." Felix said.

"Yeah alright." Joseph responded with slight sigh.

"Simon still bugging you?"

"Just the whole thing."

"Don't worry, with mine and Night-Princess' senses we'll get through this just fine." Felix said.

"Oh, you did tell the girls right?" Joseph asked.

"Yeah, they know."

"Okay. Well, be on guard tonight."

"I always am. Well, better not leave Elaine alone for too long. See ya." Felix told him before hanging up.

Later…

"…" Simon was lying in his bed. He looked at one wall where he kept his weaponry and costume hanging from it. He wasn't sure why but just leaving all of the blades and stuff hanging on the wall like a display was comforting to him.

"S-Simon."

"Hm? Lisa?" Simon looked at the bedroom door.

"We're leaving now… are you going to be okay?" Lisa asked through the door.

"…" Simon sighed in annoyance. Yeah she was just trying to be nice, but still he couldn't help but get annoyed that a fourteen year old girl had to ask him if he was doing okay. "Just go." He responded before slumping back down on to his bed.

"Um… okay." He heard her footsteps walk down the hall towards the stairs. He couldn't help but wonder how he would have reacted if it was either Joseph or the pussycat that asked him how he was doing. He probably would have yelled.

A few minutes later, Simon finally got tired of lying down on the bed doing nothing but brooding over how sorry he was feeling. He slipped on a grey workout shirt and headed down the hall towards the training room. He calmly walked to the center and took a stance. As he slowly performed a kata routine he reflected on the team.

He remembered the night he fought with Felix. Sure Felix didn't use much of an actual fighting style, but he remembered the thrill of fighting someone faster and stronger than him, and someone who could improvise a fighting style like that. Someone who could make up a fighting style on the fly that took advantage of what he could do. _"Tch… if he could just come up with some better jokes."_ He thought. In spite of all his bragging he couldn't help but wonder, who would have won?

He thought about all the times he trained Stacy in fighting. Yeah, he remembered how badly she sucked at fighting. Well he still thought she sucked, but he had to admit that Stacy could learn. Admittedly he almost looked forward to how good she could be.

Flashback…

"**You know, you might do yourself a service if you lighten up on the criticism on Stacy." Felix commented to Simon while they were having a light spar with each other.**

"**The reason?" Simon asked as he threw a punch that Felix blocked.**

"**Think about it, she changes her body in to whatever she touches. Metal, liquid, precious stone. And maybe that's not all. She might even be able to get over that twenty minute time limit." Felix said, now simply dodging and blocking since Simon was leaving few to no openings.**

"**Hmmmm…" Simon was thinking about it. "Whoa!"**

"**If she can do that, Stacy may not be omega level, but even still she could potentially be one of the most powerful mutants on Earth." Felix said right after he had pinned Simon to the floor.**

"**Get… off… pussycat…"**

End of flashback…

"_And if the cat's right, I want to be able to say that I showed her how to fight, that I taught her everything she knows."_ Simon thought. He stopped his kata routine and went over to the bucket he knocked off of the training post. "Hmmm…"

Simon thought of Joseph. Simon couldn't help but think that Joseph's technology was kind of a cheap way of dealing with criminals, even so he had to admit that for someone who doesn't seem so confident, he has to be something to be able to shoulder an entire team and his life as a rap star.

Simon thought of Myra as well. _"Well, honestly I don't think THAT much of her, I mean she just sits in front of that computer of hers all night while the rest of us are getting shot at. But… still, I have admit, she does seem like a sharp kid." _Simon thought.

Then Simon thought of Lisa. She was more or less why he joined the team. _"She looks so much like Abby, well minus the pointy teeth part. And she did help me make up my mind on whether I joined this team in the first place or not."_ Simon threw the bucket head to the side and walked out of the room in a huff. _"Yeah… she did make me realize how much I wanted on this team. And like hell am I letting them get killed."_

Meanwhile…

"Well, those bastards ought to be out and about right now." Surge commented as she readjusted her metal gauntlets before letting more electric bolts fly from her finger-tips.

"Gah! Surge! Those gloves are supposed to help you regulate your electricity. So regulate it!" Sunfire scolded.

"Gah… you slow me down." Surge said. "I'm off, good luck finding them on your own." Surge said. There was a bit of static build in the air before she ran off in a blur in to the street.

"Ugh… super-human speed, and electricity generation… a double-threat, and hot-headed to top it off! She drives me absolutely bonkers!" Sunfire cried, his English accent more apparent than it already was.

Meanwhile…

"Hey kid, you're too young to be here. Take your… uh… dog and get lost." A large man in front of a bar said.

"Grrrrrrrrr…"

"Down Louis." Night-Princess told Louis. "I'm just here for a visit." She told the man, staring him straight in the eyes with glowing eyes.

"Uh…" The man stood where he was dazed as Night-Princess walked in.

"Hm?" Everyone stopped whatever it was they were doing the moment Night-Princess walked in. The situation was only made more awkward since the music continued to play over the speakers.

"Um… hello." Night-Princess said uncomfortably.

"Hey mutie, go hang out with the rest of the freaks and get outta here!" Someone shouted.

"Guys don't start anything… I already had to clean up from yesterday…" The bartender begged.

"I'm just going to be here for a moment." Night-Princess said as Louis slinked in behind her, snarling at the bar-goers.

"Out… and take your little dog too." One threatened when he pulled out a pistol.

"I'm… sorry then…" Lisa said as bats and rats leaped out of her shadow.

"ARF!!" Louis barked.

BAM BAM BAM

Elsewhere…

"All-Star, report please." Myra's voice rang in All-Star's ear.

"Everything's fine support." All-Star answered. "There's nothing at these docks." She answered as she came from in between two warehouses near the docks.

"Still keep your guard up." Myra warned.

"Don't worry." All-Star responded. "Hm?" All-Star turned to a stack of crates she thought she saw move. "Who's there?" She asked.

"Damn… seems my cover's blown." A man with red hair, an eye-patch, and an English accent said. He pulled out a cut-out newspaper picture and looked at it. "So you must be All-Star. One of the Night-Hunters…"

"And…" All-Star asked, getting in a defensive stance.

"All-Star, what's going on?" Myra asked on the other end of the radio.

"Tonight must be my lucky night." Sunfire said as he pressed his palm and shot a jet of flame from one of the flamethrowers on his arm.

Elsewhere…

"Anything yet?" Night-Roller asked in to his radio from on top of a roof.

"No Night-Roller." Night-Princess answered.

"Okay, support do you have anything?" Night-Roller asked.

"All-Star might have something… but otherwise no." Myra answered, a little panicked.

"Give me All-Star's posi…" Night-Roller was about to say when he saw a bluish blur run through the streets below, causing all the street-lights to either short out or burst. "Scratch that, I've got something." Night-Roller said.

"Should either of us go back up All-Star?" Night-Claw asked.

"No, keep searching for their boss. Only stop your search if you encounter something." Night-Roller answered as he hopped down on to the street. "As for me… it's time to get down." He said before skating after the speeding object.

Meanwhile…

"…" Nukenin was out on the rooftops, jumping and running across them at a steady pace. _"Sorry Night-Roller, but I'm going to help you guys out my way." _Nukenin thought to himself.

"Hm? Oh ho!" Deadpool was on a distant rooftop with a belt that had a few small weapons on them, and a sniper rifle on his back. Deadpool pulled the Sniper rifle off of his back and looked through the scope. "Yes! Lucky day. It's that Simon punk… heh heh. The big reward's mine." Deadpool said as he aimed the rifle.

"Whoa that's dangerous!" Night-Claw ran in from the side and delivered a flying kick to the side of Deadpool's head, sending the sniper rifle flying out of his hand.

"Hey! I was using that!" Deadpool snapped at him.

"_He acts like he didn't even feel that kick."_ Night-Claw thought. "Well let me give you a few cosplaying tips…"

"Tips? I'll give you one. Don't pick a fight with me!" Deadpool pulled out a sub-machine gun and began firing rounds at him.

"Whoa-ho!" Night-Claw quickly resorted to acrobatic flips to avoid the gunfire. _"This guy isn't half-bad…"_

"Gunshots?" Nukenin turned towards the source of the gunshots just in time to see shuriken flying at his face. "…" Nukenin quickly ducked and looked out of the corner of his eye to spy a black-haired woman standing at the edge of the roof he was standing on.

"Nukenin of the Night-Hunters."

"Yeah… and you are?" Nukenin asked, slowly getting in to a fighting stance.

"It won't matter Simon… I'll be the last face you ever see." Elektra threatened as she pulled out two sai and twirled them in her hands.

…**Notes…**

That took a while to write, but I feel thoroughly satisfied with how this chapter turned out. Let me know what you guys think. Please leave a review.


	14. Assassination

Chronicles of the Dusk

When we last left off Simon was spending most of the day trying to deal with Joseph's decision to have him sit out. A decision he ultimately disregarded, deciding that he would help the team more by being on patrol. The four mercenaries that Hell's Haven hired are now on the move. Night-Roller is now in pursuit of Surge, Sunfire is preparing to engage All-Star, Night-Claw has begun to fight with Deadpool, and now Elektra has confronted Nukenin. Can they survive this onslaught?

Note: Didn't mean to make this chapter so long, but there wasn't any other way to write it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel Comics, I do own my original characters and the plot.

…**Assassination…**

"…" Nukenin maintained his fighting stance as he kept his eyes on Elektra. Elektra was keeping her own stance, gripping her sai tightly. _"I stopped carrying sai with me a while ago… but I haven't forgotten how to use them. They're fast, they guard well, and they really are quite deadly in the hands of an expert." _

"…" Elektra smiled before running at Nukenin. She slashed horizontally with one of her sai.

"…" Nukenin dodged and threw a punch at her face. However Elektra ducked and made a stab at his stomach. Nukenin was quick to spin around to her side and attempt to ridge-hand her from behind. However she blocked with her other arm and was quick to deliver a fast kick to his side. "Gah."

"You're mine." Elektra began furiously stabbing, kicking, and slashing with her sai. Nukenin was quickly forced on the defensive as Elektra continued this merciless onslaught.

"_Damn she's good!"_ Nukenin finally found an opening when he grabbed her leg on one kick and then grabbed her wrist. He then delivered a kick to her stomach that he was hoping would send her tumbling backwards.

"Hm." He didn't have such luck. She quickly flipped acrobatically and landed perfectly, keeping her balance and allowing her to quickly react to a series of punches and kicks from Nukenin, successfully blocking and deflecting all of them. "Ha!" She slashed her sai at his torso, it cut through the clothing but was stopped by the underlying body-armor.

"Hiyah! Ha!" Nukenin thrust his knee in to her face and then palm-heeled her under the chin and attempted to go in for a round-house kick.

"…" Elektra wrapped her arm around his leg and was about to stab for his neck. Nukenin quickly grabbed that hand with his left hand and reached for his sword. Elektra was forced to release his leg and jump back as he tried to slash her while drawing his sword.

"_Okay, I have the edge now."_ Nukenin rushed in and started swinging his sword quickly and precisely.

CHING

He successfully knocked one of Elektra's sais out of her hand and was about to go for her neck when she quickly ducked under him and grabbed him by his waist. "Gah!" Elektra then lifted him up and he soon found himself sailing over her shoulder and landing flat on his back. And if that wasn't enough she pressed her heel in the space right below his rib-cage and stabbed her sai towards his face.

CHING

"Eh… grrr…" Nukenin had to raise his sword in front of his face to block the sai, however the tip of the sai blade was merely a few inches from his face, with Elektra putting the full force of her weight on the sai.

"If I can't stab your armored body, I'll just stab your eyes…" She said with a smile as the tip of the sai inched closer and closer to his eye.

Meanwhile…

Click click

"_He's finally out of ammo."_ Night-Claw immediately flipped towards Deadpool and knocked the gun out of his hand.

"Again? I only have so many of those you know." Deadpool said angrily as he threw a few punches that Night-Claw dodged.

"Remember what I said about cosplaying tips?" Night-Claw asked as he flipped around Deadpool.

"Yeah so?"

"Well here's your first tip…" Night-Claw deflected one punch to the side and blocked a second punch. "First of all, Spider-Man wears red and blue, not red and black!" Night-Claw said as he punched Deadpool across the face. He then followed up with a kick that knocked Deadpool on to his back. "And secondly he wouldn't be caught dead with a gun."

"Yeah well here's some info for ya…" Deadpool said as he reached behind his belt. "I hate that scrawny Spider-punk!" Deadpool lunged forward with a knife in his hand.

"Whoa! Careful you could put someone's eye out." Night-Claw remarked as he ducked and then flipped back to avoid the continuous knife swings. _"Okay, I hit his head three times and all three times I know I hit him with enough force to knock a normal person out. It's a safe bet to say he's either olympic athletic level or super-human."_

"Heh…" Once Night-Claw was in mid-flip Deadpool took the knife and threw it at Night-Claw.

"Whoa!" Night-Claw extended his claws and swung them forward, knocking the knife away. Deadpool ran at Night-Claw the moment he landed. "Whoa whoa whoa, let's not get hasty now." Night-Claw threw his own punches and kicks, quickly forcing Deadpool on to the defensive.

"On the contrary…" Deadpool managed to catch one of Night-Claw's kicks, he then jumped and thrust both feet at Night-Claw's chest, knocking him on to his back.

"Oof!"

"Doing it quickly and silently is how I work best." Deadpool stood up first and prepared to bring his fist down on top of Night-Claw's crown.

"Quickly maybe." Night-Claw rolled to the side and threw a kick with his toe-claws extended, both scratching him and then kicking him to the side. "But I don't know about silently." Night-Claw stood erect and swiped his left claws at Deadpool's face. Deadpool stepped back and threw a punch at Night-Claw. Night-Claw used his other hand to catch his fist though and then he jabbed Deadpool's stomach area with his left hand.

"Whoa ho! Not bad!" Deadpool however quickly jabbed Night-Claw twice in the chest and then push-kicked him away. "But not good either." Deadpool picked up his knife from earlier and attempted to stab Night-Claw while he was stumbling backward.

"And neither is that!" Night-Claw back-flipped away and landed near the edge of the roof closest to the street. "Umph!" Deadpool tackled him the moment he landed, sending them both flying over the edge of the roof.

BAM

They both sprawled on top of a moving bus. "Whoa!" Night-Claw used his claws to stop himself from sliding off while Deadpool used his knife.

"Ugh… this is going to take all night isn't it?" Deadpool asked annoyed.

Meanwhile…

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Surge was laughing maniacally as she dashed through the streets at super-human speed, leaving all the slower cars and pedestrians in the dust. And if that wasn't enough she was deliberately discharging bolts of electricity, causing street lights, car lights, and other hapless electric devices to either short out or burst. "Oh you don't know what you're missing my oh so stiff brother…" She said to herself.

"Ugh… if she'd just hold still." Night-Roller was skating not too far behind Surge, unnoticed by the psychotic super-speeder. He was aiming one of his gloves at her while his helmet was attempting to calculate a clear shot for him. Finally Surge had to skid to a near-halt in order to make a ninty-degree turn. "Got her."

BAM

"Hm? OOF!" An energy blast struck Surge dead on and sent her flying out of the street and in to a nearby building wall. "Auuuuuugghhh… okay who did that?" Surge asked through gritted teeth.

"Ah!"

"Run for it!"

"…" Night-Roller skated up a few feet away from Surge and stopped while the nearby pedestrians ran away. Even the nearby drivers screeched to a halt and ditched their cars.

"Oh… how lucky…" Surge said as she stood up and dusted herself off.

"I'm giving you a chance to give up and turn yourself in right now." Night-Roller warned before getting in to a defensive stance, aiming one of his gloves at her.

"Give up? I've been looking for you all night!" Surge thrust both of her hands forward and sent electric bolts surging out at Night-Roller.

"Whoa!" The force of the bolts sent Night-Roller flying backward until he hit one of the abandoned cars on the street. "Okay… have it your way…" Night-Roller quickly got up and fired blast after blast at Surge.

"Ha ha ha!" Surge quickly dodged each shot and bolted down the street.

"Oh no you don't!" Night-Roller's roller blades ignited and caused him to zoom forward. He fairly easily made the ninety-degree turn and gave chase.

"Heh." Surge looked over her shoulder and fired a few bolts down the street at Night-Roller.

"Whoa!" He spun to the side and on to the side-walk briefly. But he jumped back in to the middle of the street while firing another blast of energy.

"Not going to get me that easily!" Surge made an incredible leap in to the air and was on top of the nearest building before she began skipping over the rooftops.

"Oh you've got to be joking." Night-Roller also made a similar leap and continued in hot pursuit. "Here goes!" Night-Roller fired a continuous beam of energy at Surge.

"Hm? Umph!" Surge was knocked out of the air where she hit a rooftop sprawling. "Oh not bad…" Surge got back on her feet and ran to the side right at Night-Roller nearly punched her while she was on the ground. "Ha ha ha ha!" Surge dashed at Night-Roller and began punching him over and over.

"_Girl's wearing down my force-field!"_ Night-Roller spun in place with his hands outstretched. Surge mistook it for a simple punch and stepped to the side, only for Night-Roller and punch her in the abdomen and send her flying to the next rooftop.

"Heh… you're pretty good…" She complimented.

"What? How are you still conscious after taking that many hits?" Night-Roller asked.

"I run at super-human speed. My body is built for high friction, impacts, and wind-resistance." Surge answered. "Alright old man, I'll play with you for a bit longer…" She said as she gave off more electricity.

"Who are you calling old?" Night-Roller asked.

Meanwhile…

"…" All-Star backed up a bit when she saw him shooting the small jet of flame from his arm.

"Well come on then… I've got a bounty to earn." Sunfire hastened his pace and was walking briskly towards All-Star.

"Uh-oh…" All-Star stumbled back a little bit and fell back on to the cement ground.

"You're going to make it this easy? Fine then… I won't play games with you like my psychotic sister would." Sunfire wasted no time pressing the button on his palm to fire a jet of flame at All-Star.

"Yeah right." From the finger tips where she was touching the cement her body quickly changed in to solid cement. She raised her other hand up to block the stream of flame. _"Like both Simon and Felix said, try and trick your opponent."_ She then deflected his arm to the side and punched him across the face. "Huh? Why didn't that knock you out?"

"So… you can turn to stone… interesting." Sunfire commented. The cheek where All-Star punched him didn't even show signs of a single bruise. "I might have to take you a bit more seriously." He shed the outer clothing he was wearing to reveal red and white spandex that had metal cables running to arm-mounted flamethrowers on his arms and other cables running to metallic boots. All of the cables were coming from a pair of tanks on his back.

"_Okay… if a light punch won't hurt him I guess there's no reason for me to pull my punches so much."_ All-Star ran at Sunfire and tried throwing a few punches. Sunfire dodged these punches fairly easily.

"Who taught you how to fight?" Sunfire got to All-Star's side and blew a stream of fire in to her face, burning away the face mask.

"Hey it's not easy to put this together you know!" All-Star raised her arm to block the flames and threw a round house kick that Sunfire still dodged. All-Star quickly ducked and tried throwing a sweep kick that Sunfire simply jumped over. However when All-Star got up she managed to grab his arm. "Gotcha!"

"Hm!" Sunfire was a little surprised by this, even more so when she spun around and threw him in to the outer wall of the nearest warehouse. "Not bad… but you'll need more than that." Sunfire got up while fiddling with the switches on his flamethrowers. This time when he pressed the buttons on his palms the flames blew out in a manner like blowtorches.

"…" Undaunted All-Star ran forward and continued to throw a few punches and kicks.

"Ha!" Sunfire threw a kick that connected with All-Star's chin, however a jet of flame shot out from the sole of his boot and added even more force to the kick.

"Ah!" All-Star stumbled back and landed close to the water.

"Hold still for a moment." Sunfire pressed his foot on All-Star's chest and took his blow-torch like flamethrowers to her right elbow.

"Ah!" All-Star shrieked as the intensified flames quickly melted through the elbow joint and soon severed her right forearm from the rest of her arm. Liquid cement came oozing out like blood for a moment until the normal pressure from the air caused it to solidify. "Oh my god oh my god…"

"See how well you swim with just one arm…" Sunfire then grabbed the shocked All-Star and shoved her over the edge in to the water.

SPLASH

Meanwhile…

"Guys what's going on!?" Myra asked from her computer desk. Besides Night-Princess everyone was talking to someone else, and the last thing she heard All-Star say was 'Oh my god oh my god…' "Say something!" Myra said in a panicked voice.

"What's going on?" Night-Princess asked.

"Everyone's apparently doing something! Night-Claw? Night-Roller? All-Star? Please come in!" Myra nearly begged.

"A little busy right now." Night-Claw said. "Gah! Watch it you bastard!"

"…"

"All I'm getting is static from Night-Roller's radio." Myra said.

"Who am I closest to?" Night-Princess asked.

"Ah… oh but… you have to find their boss." Myra said.

"I'll just send Louis to take care of that just tell me who I'm closest to." Night-Princess said.

Meanwhile…

"Grrrrrr…" Despite Nukenin's best efforts the fact was that he couldn't put the full force of his weight behind his sword when he was on his back, and Elektra was getting much too close to stabbing him for comfort. "Grrrrrr… ah!" Nukenin used his foot to help him roll to the side.

"Hm!" Elektra's balance was thrown off by this and she stumbled to the side a slight bit.

"Rah!" Nukenin tried to take advantage of this by swiping his sword at her leg. However, Elektra once again flipped away to avoid him and regain her balance. _"Not getting off that easy."_ He reached in to his pouch and grabbed five shuriken, all of which he threw at Elektra.

"…" Elektra pulled out five shuriken of her own and threw them. The shuriken all collided in mid-air and canceled each other out. The two then ran at each other.

"Ha!" Nukenin swung his sword vertically. However Elektra used her sai to catch the blade. Nukenin threw a punch that Elektra simply blocked by grabbing his wrist.

"Let's see how well you fight without this." Elektra then twisted her sai just right so that one of the prongs caught the guard of the sword. She then yanked the sword out of his grip and sent it tumbling down in to an alley below. "Ha!" She once again tried to stab him in the head.

"Yeah like I'm that easy!" Nukenin grabbed her wrist and the two were now pushing against each other. Nukenin took a more firm stance and was slowly beginning to gain an edge over her.

"Hm." Elektra delivered a head butt to Nukenin's own head.

"Augh!" Elektra then kicked him in the stomach and caused him to stumble back a bit. Nukenin correctly predicted that she would throw a punch at his face and so he blocked that fairly easily, however what he didn't see coming was Elektra making a stab at his stomach. "AAAAAAAAHHHH!!" Despite the body armor being their Elektra still mustered enough force to stab the blade part-way through the armor and to his stomach area.

"Umph!" Elektra was kicked away and Nukenin was now on the offensive with a series of punches and kicks. Elektra retaliated with her own series of punches and kicks at Nukenin.

"_No matter how much I observe her she still varies her fighting style throughout the whole fight. Photographic reflex or not I can't predict her next move at all!"_ Nukenin thought in frustration as the two continued to block, dodge, and strike each other. Nukenin was backing away slowly towards the edge of the roof. When he noticed this he moved in and palm-heeled Elektra under the chin.

"Rah!" Simply spun to Nukenin's side and then dodged a kick until she was near his backside.

"Hm!" Nukenin spun around quickly and while she dodged another kick from him he used his momentum to throw a punch at her face.

"_Got you."_

"AUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH!!" Elektra once again mustered as much force as possible to stab him part way through his body armor and somewhat pierce the skin over his stomach again. "Hm? Whooooooaaaaa! Umph! Og!" Elektra then performed a judo throw that caused Nukenin to fall down in to the alleyway, first hitting the wall of a building, then a fire-escape rail, and then the concrete ground. "Ah! Oooooooooohhhh…"

Meanwhile…

Sunfire was looking at the water for any sign of All-Star. While he knew it would be unlikely for her to be able to swim without an arm and while turned to stone he had to be sure, drowning wasn't always the most effective way to make sure someone was dead.

"Support…"

"All-Star? Oh thank goodness what happened?" Myra asked.

"Some guy… melted my arm off while I was made of cement… cement!" All-Star had turned in to water and was underneath a nearby dock, talking in to the radio, which she was having to make sure stayed afloat on the roof of her mouth and ear.

"Your arm! Oh my god are you okay!?" Myra asked.

"Yeah… I turned in to the water he threw me in…"

"Wait… remember what Night-Claw said? Maybe you can reconstruct your arm or something…"

"Okay… but what about this guy? He has like… some tricked out flamethrowers or something… wait maybe I could go at him in water form…" All-Star said.

"No! He'd evaporate you… and he might be able to melt you if you go metal… try turning in to diamond!" Myra told her.

"Wait though… I punched him and he still seemed just fine, not even bruised." All-Star mentioned.

"Hmmm… go for any gas tanks he might have on him. If you take out his weapons he might be less of a threat." Myra suggested.

"Okay…"

"Hmmmmmm… I guess the job's done after all. Now to see if I can't find another one…" Sunfire turned his back to the dock and was about to walk away. He didn't notice the soaking wet figure climbing up behind him.

"…" All-Star quietly reached in to her pocket and touched her diamond earring.

"Hm? What?" Sunfire turned around just in time to see All-Star running at him with a fist drawn back.

BAM

"Umph!" He received a solid punch to his face and was sent flying back. "Augh! That hurt…" This time there was a mark on his face.

"I guess you're not completely invulnerable." All-Star said before she ran at Sunfire.

"Diamond? Hm… this could be tricky." Sunfire jumped in to the air and jets on the soles of his boots turned on, allowing him to practically fly.

"Huh?"

"This isn't as easy as it looks…" He said, using his flamethrowers to help him balance. Sunfire aimed one and blew a long-reaching stream of fire at All-Star.

"_Go for the gas tank."_ All-Star jumped at Sunfire and fell just short of touching his foot.

"How did you get your arm back? I threw it in to the dumpster after I melted it off of you." Sunfire flew around All-Star, constantly pelting her with flames.

"You're really starting to burn me up." All-Star again tried to jump at Sunfire but nearly jumped back in to the water. "Whoa!"

"How about another swim?" Sunfire tried flying at her to tackle her. But All-Star jumped the side slightly and managed to grab his foot. "Damn it."

"I've got you now!" All-Star tried reaching for the gas tanks on his back. However Sunfire blew a concentrated blast of flame at her face. "Hey! Stop that!" All-Star could still feel the heat and could swear that her face might be starting to melt. "RAH!" She spun around and hurled him through a warehouse window. _"Not done yet… not done yet…"_ All-Star ran at the warehouse and barged right through the wall.

Meanwhile…

A mother and her little boy were in a red car on the streets of LA, driving right beside a bus. The little boy looked out the window at the top of the bus. "Mommy mommy! There's people fighting on the bus!" The little boy shouted, watching Night-Claw and Deadpool duke it out on top of the bus.

"I'm sure there are dear." The mother sighed, obviously not believing him.

"Ha!" Night-Claw was swiping his claws at Deadpool but occasionally had to dodge knife swipes from him. Night-Claw scratched him on the chest somewhat, but Deadpool was hardly fazed by it and threw a punch that hit Night-Claw's cheek. "Umph!"

"Not so funny now are we mutie!?" Deadpool shouted as he ran to stab Night-Claw while he was staggering.

"Actually…" Night-Claw upper-cut Deadpool under the chin and flipped over top of his head. "I was thinking of doing stand-up." Night-Claw landed right behind Deadpool and knocked the knife out of his hand when Deadpool wheeled around to try and stab him. "And you should apply for the circus!" Night-Claw rapidly swung his claws to try and hit him and then thrust his foot forward.

"Heh…" Deadpool caught Night-Claw's foot and gripped it tightly. "How about I give you a leg up instead!" Deadpool wheeled around and hurled Night-Claw off the back of the bus.

"This is why I don't take public transpoooooooort!" Night-Claw yelled. He noticed the car he was about to land on and managed to flip in mid-air until he landed on top of the car in a crouch.

"Hey! You mind!?" The driver yelled at Night-Claw.

"No I don't mind, thanks for the lift." Night-Claw responded. _"Okay, this guy has some degree of super-human strength… but when I scratched him it didn't smell like I even drew blood, or anything for that matter. He hardly even has a scent, but he does have organs I can hear his heart-beat, though it is a bit odd sounding…"_

"…" Deadpool walked to the back of the bus aiming a sub-machine gun at Night-Claw.

"Oh crap." Night-Claw quickly jumped for the nearest building wall and then sprang off of it.

"Gotcha!" Deadpool waited for Night-Claw to be in mid-air so that he didn't waste too many shots.

RATATATATATATATA

"Not good not good not good…" Night-Claw flipped through the air, narrowly avoiding the bullets whizzing up past him. He landed on the roof of a building and ran after the bus.

"Hold still would you?" Deadpool continued to fire round after round at Night-Claw.

"But if I did that it'd be too easy for you!" Night-Claw shouted.

"Aw crap… gotta reload now." Deadpool muttered.

"_Heard that."_ Night-Claw leaped back towards the bus and landed a flying kick to Deadpool's cheek as he landed.

"Gah!" Deadpool nearly went over the edge but stopped himself from sliding off.

"Ha ha… whoa!" Night-Claw wanted to move in to throw him, but the bus decided to take a turn at this point, forcing him to use his toe claws to keep himself from sliding. "OOF!"

"Gotcha you mutant freak!" Deadpool grabbed Night-Claw by his neck and nearly whaled him in the face if Night-Claw didn't hit him in the face first. "Gah!"

"Now it's your turn for a lift!" Night-Claw used his claws and grabbed Deadpool by his neck and back and hurled him off the bus towards a building.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!"

CRASH

Meanwhile…

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Surge leapt backwards through the air while sending a stream of electric bolts from her fingertips at Night-Roller.

"_Force-field's getting too low!"_ Night-Roller fired another energy blast at Surge and managed to knock her higher in to the air.

"Ah!" Surge sprawled in to the street and had to roll out of the way of an incoming car.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!" People ran away from Surge as she stood up, giving off sparks and a few bolts of electricity.

"This old man is starting to piss me off…" She ran back in to the street and continued to run.

"Does she ever stop moving?" Night-Roller once again had to skate after her while carefully aiming at her. "Forget it, I'll just skate in and hit her with a punch…"

"…" Surge noticed that they were approaching a warehouse door and got an evil smirk on her face. She skidded to a halt right in front of the door and wheeled around to glare at Night-Roller.

"…" Night-Roller had his right fist prepped to punch her while his left hand was firing small bursts of energy. Surge used her electric bolts to cancel out the energy blasts at Night-Roller rapidly got closer.

WHAM

"Ha ha ha!" Surge side-stepped Night-Roller, causing him to go plowing through the warehouse door.

"What?" Night-Roller barely stopped himself from plowing in to the wall of the currently empty warehouse.

"Oh what have we here…?" Surge noticed a small box with a symbol for high voltage on it as she walked in to the warehouse. "Ha ha ha ha ha!" She managed to thrust her fingers in to the box and was draining energy out of it. Surge was now glowing and cackling like crazy. "Oh this feels good!!" Surge aimed her free hand at Night-Roller and struck him dead on with super-charged lightning bolts.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!" Night-Roller was sent flying in to the wall by the force of these electric bolts. _"Oooooooggg…"_

"Force field down! Force field down! Warning! Warning!" Flashed across Night-Roller's visor.

"Hm? That energy I felt from your equipment a while ago is gone… ah ha! You were using a force-field after all!" Surge smiled that twisted smile of hers. "Perfect… and it looks like it didn't stop that last blast fully… consider yourself dead old man!" Surge cackled as she prepared to fry him.

Meanwhile…

"…" All-Star was now inside of the warehouse she threw Sunfire in to, but the only thing she could see were a bunch of wooden crates lying around. "Where did he go?" She asked out loud as she walked in. "Oof!" She was suddenly pushed forward violently where she slammed in to the nearby crates.

"Miss me?" Sunfire asked through gritted teeth.

"…" All-Star stood up just as she was changing back from diamond to fleshy pink skin. "Uh-oh…"

"Oh… so there's a time limit… perfect…" Sunfire said as he aimed his flamethrower at All-Star. "Goodbye little girl…"

"No no no…" All-Star muttered.

"All-Star!? All-Star!?" Myra's voice screamed in All-Star's ear.

FWOOSH

"STACY!!"

Meanwhile…

"Ah!" Came the screams of the people in the restaurant.

"Grrrr… what are you looking at!?" Deadpool demanded angrily as he pulled out a knife.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!" Most of the customers and staff ran out the door after that. The only ones left were a waitress and the cashier at this point.

"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaamn… you really can take a hit can't you?" Night-Claw asked as he came in.

"Shut up!" Deadpool pulled out the last gun he had on him and aimed it at the waitress and the cashier.

"Ah!"

"_What the… oh no… Elaine!?" _Night-Claw just now realized who the waitress was. "Okay… just put the gun down…"

"Fat chance mutant! Now then… you're going to stand there and let me hit you… or I unload my clip on these two…" Deadpool threatened. "Come on mutie… do what comes naturally for your kind… save yourself and screw the world."

"_I want a giant roll of duct tape for this guy's mouth…" _Night-Claw thought as he put his hands up.

"Oh ho! Guess you are full of surprises…" Deadpool aimed the gun at Night-Claw and prepared to pull the trigger.

"_Now…" _Night-Claw dived forward a second before Deadpool pulled the trigger and avoided the rapid hailstorm of bullets. He landed close to Elaine and the cashier, grabbed them and jumped behind the salad bar.

"Ah!" Elaine screamed.

"Go!" Night-Claw landed and urged the two out the door. The cashier made it but… "Get down!"

RATATATATATATATATATA

"AAAAAHHH!!" Elaine screamed as Night-Claw tackled her, narrowly saving her from the bullets. "Get off of me!" Elaine, in a panic, pushed Night-Claw's face and accidentally grabbed his mask. "Wha…"

"Hey! Oh crap…" Night-Claw then realized that his mask had been yanked off and Elaine was staring right in to his face.

"F-Felix… y-you…" Elaine stuttered.

"I'm sorry Elaine… but now's not the time." Night-Claw pulled himself out of Elaine's grip and put his mask back on before diving back out towards Deadpool.

"Whoa!" Deadpool's gun was kicked out of his hand before Night-Claw began clawing and beating him with his fists.

"Okay, I'm tired of the jokes here! You threaten innocent people… and you've nearly killed me three times tonight!" Night-Claw punched him in the face and then yanked off Deadpool's mask. "What the…"

"RAH!"

"AUGH!" Night-Claw was thrown on to his back by a really strong punch that Night-Claw could swear broke his nose.

"Like it…?" Deadpool didn't really even have what you would call a face. It was really a plastic dome covering a head that had thing, stretched out skin, no eyelids over the eyes, and a small hole in front of his lip-less mouth to allow air to come in. And the most grotesque part about this was his brain that was exposed at the top of his head, which seemed rather swelled in comparison to a normal sized brain anyways.

"…" Elaine was trembling as Deadpool approached Night-Claw with knife in hand.

"Shouldn't be so distracted… but you see this?" Deadpool pointed at his face. "This… is what I sacrificed to make sure that mutant freaks like you who think themselves so high and mighty stayed where you belong! Unlike you so called 'homo-superior' who were born with your powers I had to go through painful surgery, implants, and god knows what else to be strong enough to take away those lives that you don't even deserve!" Deadpool then stomped on Night-Claw's right forearm as hard as he could.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" Night-Claw shouted as he felt the bones in his forearm snap.

"Now go burn in hell!" Deadpool shouted as he prepared to stab Night-Claw in the throat.

Meanwhile…

"…" Nukenin weakly stood up, his whole body hurt. His head, his arms, and most of all his bleeding abdomen. Nukenin noticed his sword on the ground and picked it up. He knew she wouldn't stop until he was most certainly dead, she was too professional to expect a fall like that to kill him that easily.

"Hm… you are something to be able to still stand after a fall like that." Elektra said.

"!!" Nukenin turned down the alley and saw Elektra approaching him, both sai in hand. After the fall plus the two bleeding stab wounds he wouldn't be able to move quite so nimbly as he had before.

"…" Elektra grabbed a fistful of shuriken from her pouch and threw them at Nukenin.

"Tch…" Nukenin jumped to the side and avoided them. However Elektra threw one of her sai and nailed him in the shoulder. "AUUUUGH!!"

"You're going to die here Nukenin… I hope you're prepared." Elektra said as she approached him with her sai.

…**Notes…**

Man I am soooooo sorry for the long wait. But here it is. Who will live and who will die? Find out next chapter!


	15. Salvation

Chronicles of the Dusk

When we last off, the Night-Hunters all across the city encountered the assassins hired to kill them. Despite their best efforts the assassins all prove to be much more dangerous opponents then they could have expected. Sunfire now has All-Star at his mercy, Surge prepares to finish off Night-Roller, Deadpool stands over Night-Claw, and Elektra is ready to end Nukenin's life with a stab of her sai.

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel Comics, I do own my original characters and the story itself.

…**Salvation…**

"STACY!!" Myra shouted.

Knock knock

"Myra what's going on in there?" Myra's dad asked from the other side of the door.

"Ooops…" She muttered. She quickly put the headset away and turned off the computer monitor and got close to the door. "Nothing dad… just a… really bad dream." Myra said through the door.

"What about Stacy?"

"She's a heavy sleeper, sleeping like a log… heh…" Myra lied. _"Please buy it, please buy it…"_ Myra thought.

"Okay… get some sleep it's already half-past mid-night." Her dad told her. Myra pressed her ear to the door, making sure he was walking away.

"Phew…" Myra quickly ran back to her computer and put her head-phones on, also turning on the monitor. "All-Star please come in…" All she heard was a strange cackling sound on the other end. "Odd… almost sounds like…"

Meanwhile…

"…" Sunfire stared at the pile of crates he just burned with All-Star. "Hm? Wait a minute…" All-Star stared intently at the flames and could've sworn some of them moved like a human silhouette. "No… that… just what the deuce is your power!?" Sunfire asked in shock.

"Huh?" All-Star looked at herself. Her body was a burning, human-shaped body of fire. "I can… absorb fire too?" She asked out loud. "Oh wait…" She just then remembered that she was in the middle of a fight and looked back at Sunfire.

"Oh damn it all…"

"Hm!" All-Star lunged at Sunfire. Sunfire jumped and used his boots to jet away from her to the other side of the warehouse.

"Whoa!" All-Star continued to glide forward, but then she did a sharp turn upward and was now floating in mid-air. "I can fly? Awesome!" All-Star turned back to look at Sunfire before she flew forward at a shocking speed.

"Ah!" Sunfire was caught off-guard by this. All-Star passed through him like a human being would pass through a fire if they tried to tackle it, though needless to say Sunfire received some nasty burns as a result. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!" Sunfire yelled as the burns covered his torso, burning away some of his costume and leaving blisters on his body. _"Th-this girl… how powerful is she?! I've got to get away!"_ Sunfire stifled the pain and ran out of the warehouse where he activated his rocket boots and took off.

"Hey!" All-Star wheeled around and quickly took off after him in to the air. Though he had a major head-start she caught up to him quickly. She tried to grab his metallic boot, but like before it was like trying to hold a flame. "Oh come on!" All-Star tried again and this time she somehow managed to grab his foot and hold it.

"What are you doing!? Let go! You're wrecking my flight path!" Sunfire shouted through gritted teeth.

"Try and fight… without these…" All-Star aimed a hand at the gas tanks and a small stream of fire shot out of her hand and began melting away at the tank.

"What are you doing!? Those tanks hold a gas that combusts instantly when exposed to oxygen!" Sunfire shouted just before All-Star melted all the way through it.

KABOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!" Sunfire yelled as he began to fall down below.

"Oh my god!" All-Star shrieked, still floating in mid-air. "Oh god oh god… please say I didn't actually kill somebody…" She muttered as she flew after him.

Meanwhile…

"Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!" Deadpool was about to stoop low and bring his knife down on top of Night-Claw.

BAM

"Oh!" A fire hydrant flew in from the side and hit Deadpool in the head, knocking him off balance and causing him to roll on to his side. "Alright who did that?" He stood up and looked up, seeing Elaine standing there, her face still full of shock and terror, breathing hard. "You? So you a mutie as well?"

"N-no… I-I-I'm not a mutant." Elaine trembled, backing away as Deadpool was getting closer to her with his knife in hand.

"That's even worse now… you mutant loving people make me even more sick than mutants!" Deadpool picked Elaine up by her neck and threw her to the ground.

"Ah!" Elaine screamed.

"Bad enough that you try and save mutant lives, but that also shows that you aren't sticking out for what you are! You're a human being, trying to save these mutant freaks who will inevitably mop the floor with your damned blood!" Deadpool shouted, preparing to stab Elaine.

"…" Unbeknownst to Deadpool, Night-Claw was quietly standing back up, extending the claws on his left hand.

"Don't worry though… I'll send your mutant pal down to hell to meetcha soon!" Deadpool shouted. "Ugh!" Deadpool suddenly felt stinging pain down his lower back, he dropped his knife and fell to the floor, gasping for air. "W-what…"

"Question… if I can lift roughly ten or more tons, and I have nails covered in one of the strongest allows in existence… how much force do you think I'd need to use to thrust my nails… in to your spinal column…" Night-Claw hissed, standing above Deadpool. Night-Claw was still bleeding from his nose, and his right arm was hanging limp at his side, bleeding a little as well.

"Y-you…" Deadpool began to whisper out. "Guh!" However Night-Claw stomped his foot on his head.

"Plastic dome protecting you or not… I bet that swelled head of yours still gets knocked around inside of it." Night-Claw continued to hiss. Elaine just sat where she was, staring at both of them in terror. "Now don't show your face anywhere near this town again… or next time… I'm not going to hold my temper!" Night-Claw then picked up Deadpool by the neck and threw him at the nearby wall.

CRASH

Deadpool crashed through the wall and got stuck in there, his legs dangling lifelessly, but Night-Claw could still hear his heartbeat.

"…" Elaine was catching her breath, staring at Night-Claw with pure bewilderment.

"…" Night-Claw could only look at her with pity as he picked up a table cloth and tried several times to tie it around his shoulder until he could finally make a makeshift sling. "…" Night-Claw looked back one more time at Elaine as police cars were beginning to show up.

"F-Fe…" Elaine started to say. But she stopped when he shook his head.

"I'm sorry." Night-Claw said as he walked out of restaurant.

"Freeze!" The police shouted.

"Sorry fellas, too warm tonight for that." Night-Claw joked, almost half-heartedly before he took a giant leap over them and to the other building.

"…" Elaine walked out, staring at Night-Claw as he leaped away. A few tears welled up in her eyes even as the police walked up and tried to ask her a few questions. _"Felix… how could you…?"_ She wondered.

Meanwhile…

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Surge was cackling louder than the electricity around her. "Well it was short, but it was fun old man… hope to see you in the afterlife!!" She shouted as she raised her hands above her head.

"Squeek squeek squeek!"

"Hm? Ah!" A swarm of bats began fluttering around her "Little pests!" She discharged a few bolts around her and fried them all instantly, soon vanishing in to mist. "What?"

"Rah!" Night-Princess appeared in front of her and punched her in the stomach hard enough to send her flying back before she landed on her back.

"Ugh… that hurt…" Surge said. "Oh… another one?" She noticed Night-Princess and saw her. "But you're a bit small to be a threat don't you think?" Surge asked with her usual twisted smile.

"…" Night-Princess continued to glare at her through her shades. "Did you do this to him?" Night-Princess asked quietly, yet with a threatening undertone.

"And what if I did love?" Surge asked in response.

"Grrrrrrr…" Night-Princess bared her fangs while giving a low growl. "Leave him alone…"

"How about… no? Ha ha ha ha!" Surge unleashed a high voltage blast at Night-Princess.

"Ugh!" Night-Princess revolted in pain as the several thousand volts coursed through her body, the heat from the bolts burning her inside and out. Finally ending when she was sent flying back in to the wall.

"Heh heh heh heh… now that you're dead I'll just kill the old man." Surge smirked.

"Don't count on it…"

"Hm?" Surge shocked a look of genuine shock when Night-Princess stood back up, the burns seen through the hole in the stomach of her shirt healing. "What the hell?"

"You won't kill him… or what isn't even alive to begin." Night-Princess dived forward, landed on her hands and sprung at Surge. Surge side-stepped and tired to blast her with a lightning bolt, however Night-Princess suddenly flew towards the ceiling as if she were falling.

"Wha- Hold still!" Surge fired another bolt at her. However Night-Princess did a number of flips and somersaults along the ceiling until she was right above Surge. Night-Princess then dived down towards Surge. "Rah!" Surge fired more bolts at her.

"…" Night-Princess then suddenly fell towards the wall to Surge's left.

"_How is she doing that!?"_ Surge wondered. She fired another bolt at Night-Princess.

"…" Night-Princess flipped down the wall until she was on her feet. "Now it's my turn…" She said. She jumped off of the wall and at the same time changed her orientation towards the opposite wall, sending her rocketing towards Surge.

"UMPH!!" Surge got tackled hard enough to send the two of them plowing through the old warehouse wall and in to an alleyway where Surge was slammed against a stone wall. "AUGH!! You little… RAH!" She discharged a large amount of electricity that sent Night-Princess flying off of her. "I'll kill you! I swear I will! And once I'm done with you the old man is going to die as well!" She shrieked.

"Uuuuughhh…" Night-Princess stood up holding her head. "Hsssssss… you won't touch him…"

"Rah!" Surge zapped Night-Princess and continued to send bolts pulsing through her. "Die slowly for me!" Surge shrieked.

"…" Night-Princess resisted the force of the bolts. She threw her head forward to make her shades slide down. She stared at Surge with glowing eyes.

"Uh! Uuuuuuhhh…" It was clear Surge was trying to resist the hypnotism. "Get… out… of my… head… urgh…" Surge stopped sending bolts out of her fingertips as Night-Princess got closer and closer.

"Don't… ever… threaten my dad… again…" She hissed, glaring at surge with red eyes. "RAH!!" Night-Princess leaped at Surge and sunk her fangs in to Surge's neck.

"AH!" Surge tried to discharge electricity to get Night-Princess off of her, but it was to no avail. Night-Princess refused to let go as she continued to suck Surge's blood. "Ah… stop… please… stop…" Surge started to beg as she began to lose consciousness. It was no use, Surge could feel her strength leaving her before she blacked out.

"…" Night-Princess continued to drink until there was finally little left. "Hah!" She gasped for air as she took her blood-stained teeth and lips from Surge's neck. "…" Night-Princess stood up and looked at Surge with pity. Her blue eyes watered up and a few tears leaked from her eyes as she walked back in to the warehouse. She wiped away the blood from her mouth and ran over to Night-Roller.

"Uuuuuuhhh… is she gone?" Night-Roller asked groggily.

"Here… I'll get you home." Night-Princess whispered, hoisting Night-Roller over her shoulders. "Support… I have Night-Roller…" Night-Princess reported in.

Meanwhile…

Nukenin had heard that when you're about to die your life flashes before your eyes. Well now he knew what they were talking about. As Elektra walked over to him he saw his life as a teenager, high school, Abby, mercenary work, and his brief time on the team.

He thought about Night-Roller, his ups and downs with him, his gear and leadership. He thought about Night-Claw, his insult trading with him, his fighting style. He thought about All-Star, her interesting powers and rather gung-ho approach. And then he thought of Night-Princess, her gentleness and shy personality, and her way of handling crooks.

"_Wait…"_ Nukenin really reflected on Night-Princess' fighting style. The way she rushed head-long at bullets and knives, taking blows and dodging them at her convenience, and how she even sometimes only slightly changed her path so that a bullet didn't hit her eye and blind her for a moment. _"That's it…"_ He looked at Elektra with renewed determination.

"Oh? Still have some fight left?" Elektra asked, not stopping her advance.

"Rah!" Nukenin yanked the sai out of his shoulder and tossed it to the side, wincing at the pain.

"I'm surprised you didn't throw it at me." Elektra commented.

"Nah… I can tell from the look in your eyes. You've seen it all before, turning your opponents strength against them, taking an offensive or defensive. I'm not going to show you something you've seen before… I'll show you something you won't expect." Nukenin then ran forward at Elektra in the same manner that Night-Princess charges her opponents.

"I've seen people rush me in desperation before." Elektra told him as she held her sai and then made a stab for his neck.

"Ha!" Nukenin moved to the side and jumped slightly, letting Elektra's sai stab in to his bullet proof vest near the shoulder. "RAH!"

"Urk!" Nukenin took advantage of this opening and stabbed his sword at her stomach. She lost her grip on her said and slowly fell on to her back as Nukenin pulled out his sword. It didn't protrude from her back, but it still stabbed her deeply.

"Heh… heh…" Nukenin let the sai fall out of his vest as he put his sword back in its sheath. _"Ugh… just a few inches off and that might have killed me." _Nukenin thought. He stumbled down the alleyway, clutching his stomach.

"Grrrrrr…"

"Hm?" Nukenin turned to the side to see a large white wolf snarling at him. "You're… Louis was it?" Nukenin asked. "Oh great I'm talking to a dog."

"Hmph…" Louis snorted at that commented. He turned around while still looking at Nukenin. Nukenin could have sworn that Louis was telling him to follow him.

"_I wonder…"_ Nukenin walked after Louis, ignoring the pain through his body.

At Myra's house…

"Oh thank goodness, I'm glad Night-Roller's okay." Myra sighed. "Everyone else?"

"Oh just swell… I've only gotten a broken nose and a broken arm. Everything's just peachy." Night-Claw said over the radio.

"Broken!? How did you break your arm!?" All-Star asked over the radio.

"All-Star! Oh I'm glad you're okay… what happened to that guy that was attacking you?" Myra asked.

"His tanks blew up and… oh he's badly burnt and he took a big fall but he's still alive… he must be somewhat invulnerable or something… uh but I have another problem…" All-Star said.

"What?" Night-Claw, Night-Princess, and Myra asked simultaneously.

"Can uh… somebody run to my house and find a change in clothes for me…?" All-Star asked embarrassed.

"Change of clothes?!" Myra asked.

"Mine sort of, kind of got burnt…" All-Star said.

"I'll get them." Night-Princess said.

"Support."

"Hm? Nukenin?" Myra asked.

"Nukenin!? So that was you that the plastic cyborg was aiming at! You're not supposed to be on the field you idiot!" Night-Claw shouted.

"Plastic cyborg? What the hell is… never mind. Support… I need you to do something." Nukenin told her.

"Hm? What?" Myra asked.

"Do you have that software or whatever Night-Roller gave you to contact the police?"

"The one that makes it sound like a woman is calling them? Yeah." Myra asked.

"I won't lie… if you do this some people might die."

"What?"

"Hey Nukenin… she's just a kid don't thrust this on her." Night-Claw told him seriously.

"Face it Night-Claw, we thrust them in the moment we got them involved with us." Nukenin snapped back.

"Grrrr…"

"It's the only way to end this…" Nukenin urged.

"…" Myra paused a moment and a tear or two leaked from her eyes. "What's the address?" She asked quietly.

Elsewhere…

"…" The old man from Hell's Haven was in a hotel room holding a radio device. "Hey… are any of you guys gonna respond?" The old man asked grumpily. That's when his room phone rang. He sighed and picked it up. "What do you want?"

"Boss… you might want to look outside."

"Hm?" The old man walked over to the closed bedroom curtains and opened them. There were police cars with their lights on and policemen talking to some hotel staff and one of his men just outside the hotel doors. "Tch…" The old man picked up another talkie and spoke to it. "Do you know why they're here?"

"They said they're investigating reports of a group of murderers that someone witnessed coming to this hotel."

"What?" The old man suddenly looked at the roof of a building across the street. Sitting on the edge of the roof while looking right at him was Nukenin, waving two fingers in his direction. "…"

"Boss what if the police find something? Our weapons or something? Boss?"

"…" The old man sighed and walked to his closet. There was a small hand-held device that was wired to the wall, where a beeping device was sitting with wires running out of his room and to the hallway. The man picked up the device and looked at the button on it. "Well done Simon… now no one will know that Hell's Haven… once existed." The old man pressed the button.

Outside…

"…" Nukenin watched the old man got back in to his room towards the closet. Nukenin knew what was coming.

KABOOM

KABOOM

KABOOM

"What the hell!?"

"My hotel! The guests in that room! Noooo!"

"Go go go!"

"…" Nukenin watched the majority of the rooms on that floor explode one by one. He guessed those were the rooms all the Hell's Haven operatives were staying at. _"When faced with the choice of confronting the police or avoiding capture… looks like that old man chose the latter." _Nukenin thought. To be honest though, Nukenin's feelings about this were mixed, he was glad that this could now be over, but still, having to tell Myra, a teenage girl, to send the police over here; Nukenin wasn't sure what to tell her.

"Hey."

"Augh…" Nukenin felt a hand slap him in the shoulder he had to pull the sai out of. He looked at the nail-less left hand angrily as he looked at Night-Claw. "Watch it… I got stabbed one too many times tonight…"

"Heh… at least your bones are in one piece." Night-Claw said. "But my arm will heal. Better go make sure you don't die of blood loss."

"…"

"Come on… I can smell the blood leaking out of you despite the blood that came out of my nose moments ago." Night-Claw said, using his free arm to help Nukenin up, and then sling him over his shoulder.

"Whoa! Hey easy pussycat!"

"You're welcome!" Night-Claw responded.

"…" Nukenin took one last look at the flaming wreckage of that hotel floor. _"Goodbye… and good riddance."_

The next day…

"Yo where's teach?" Rick asked.

"Yeah he should be in here before us shouldn't he?" Nathan asked.

"Pft… who cares?" Sheena asked from the back with a shrug.

"…" Stacy was sitting alone at her table. Myra couldn't come today, Myra was an emotional wreck this morning. Not that she could blame her; but at least after this period they'd have the weekend to work it out. At least that's what she hoped.

"Sorry class, bathroom." Felix came in, his arm in a cast and sling, and light bruises on his face.

"Whoa! What happened teach?" Nathan asked.

"I already have a pet name?" Felix laughed. "Ah it's nothing, just fell on my arm going downstairs." Felix lied.

"And that broke your arm?" Stan asked.

"Ah the doctor said it's not really broken, he just doesn't want me to move it, it'll be fine by Monday, but enough about me, let's get on with the class."

"_Good one…"_ Stacy thought as she stared at Felix's broken arm, though he probably wasn't kidding about that arm being fine by Monday.

Later…

"…" Simon was lying on the living room couch watching the news, his stomach and shoulder had bandages taped over them with medical tape, the bandages were pretty red though.

"How are you feeling?" Lisa asked from the nearby chair.

"Hurts like hell… pussycat can't apply bandages worth a damn." Simon scoffed.

"But he only had one arm to do it with." Lisa pointed out.

"Eh I know… but I can give him a hard time about it right?" Simon responded as the news broadcasted.

"Strange things in LA last night. One body and three injured people found scattered all over LA. Their identities have not been made public by the police yet as they are still having trouble identifying them. Plus, the strange bombing at the…"

"One dead? You guys must have been soft on whoever you guys were dealing with." Simon said. Lisa said nothing to this, because she knew exactly who the dead one was. She guessed Simon might have tried to kill his attacker though. Not that she could particularly blame him.

"Okay, both of you can come over tomorrow right? Good, we have a lot to talk about." Felix said in to his phone before he walked in and hung up.

"Who was that?" Lisa asked.

"Stacy, she and Myra are coming over tomorrow, though I'm not sure how Stacy's going to drag Myra over here." Felix said as he dialed a new number and put the phone to his ear. "Come on come on… please pick up this time…" He waited until he got the voicemail message. "Damn it Elaine…"

"Elaine?" Both Lisa and Simon asked.

"Shush." He hissed at them. He waited until the tone sounded. "Elaine, come on I know you have your phone with you… please Elaine we HAVE to talk about this. I… I'll call back…" He said as he walked upstairs.

"…" Simon sighed as Felix walked upstairs. He thought about last night when he got home.

Last night…

"**I cannot believe you rushed out there by yourself… without telling any of us…" Joseph sighed while sitting on the chair, Lisa trying to comfort him. "Oooohhh… and I'm still dizzy from my fight."**

"**Ouch! Watch it pussycat!" Simon practically hissed as Felix had a difficult time applying bandages and taping them down.**

"**Well if you'd hold still!" Felix hissed back.**

"**Augh! Okay… regardless Joseph… I'm sorry I did that… but now I can promise you, it's over." Simon said.**

"**It's over? For certain?" Joseph asked.**

"**If there are any operatives left, they won't be able to do much… Hell's Haven is as good as done for." Simon said. "Ouch!"**

"**I repeat… hold still!" Felix chided.**

"**Simon… you're nuts." Joseph chuckled. "But… I guess I should thank you for that."**

"**Heh…"**

"**But now you really are benched for the next few nights." Joseph told him.**

"**Eh… whatever." Simon responded. He didn't really care this time, he deserved it. But hey, he could wear it with pride now. His problems were behind him, and he knew one thing beyond the shadow of a doubt.**

End of flashback…

"I'm right where I belong." Simon whispered to himself.

…**Notes…**

That concludes this story arc. Simon no longer has the past to haunt him, but still a few questions remain. Those will be addressed in the next story arc. Until then read and review.


	16. Take a Bow

Chronicles of the Dusk

Well readers, especially Shining Riku (Thank you for your reviews and positive feedback), Now we approach a chapter where we focus on the aftermath of the last arc.

It is now Saturday morning, almost immediately after the last chapter. Though Hell's Haven is behind them, there are other problems that are just beginning and questions lingering.

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel comics, I do own my original characters and the story itself.

…**Take a Bow…**

"Mmmmmmmmmmm…" Felix rolled over in his bed groaning. He could already hear footsteps heading downstairs and soon a cupboard being opened and closed, he could even hear someone pouring a bowl of cereal for themselves. Then he got a whiff of black coffee, it was definitely Simon.

"_Idiot… that poser better be taking it easy when he's walking, it wasn't easy to bandage him up."_ Felix really just wanted to sink his head back down in to his pillow and catch some well-deserved rest. But he knew that he had things he needed to take care of today, and he had to be ready for it, especially later today.

The first thing he did was check his right arm. He moved his fingers and hand a little bit. It still hurt, but not nearly as badly. His arm was definitely healing. It might even be all better by tomorrow, or at least sometime tomorrow. Still for the time being he was going to play it safe and use the brace and sling.

Next Felix opened up the closet. Now would be when a normal person might turn the lights on, but he didn't need it, he could see everything in his closet perfectly. Felix looked through his shirts and pants hanging neatly in his closet. All he really had were nice button-up shirts and matching pants, that and his costume.

"…" Felix took a good long look at his costume and breathed a heavy sigh. He then looked at his left hand. He slowly extended his nails from his finger-tips. _"To think I've only had these claws for two years now… but in that short time I've lost count of how many times I would have traded these for my old life."_

A few minutes later he came out of his room fully dressed and his right arm in the brace and sling.

"Good morning Felix."

"Hm? Oh good morning Lisa." Felix said with a smile. He looked down to find Lisa looking up at him. She was in a pink night-gown and her eyes were blue right now, though he could see a hint of purple. _"Of course as many times as I've wished for my old life… Lisa and the others make me even more grateful for the life I have now."_

"How's your arm doing?" Lisa asked as they walked towards the stairs.

"Still hurts, moments like these that I envy you and that hairy guy on the X-men." Felix joked. "How'd you manage last night?" Felix asked. Since Lisa was the only one who either wasn't seriously injured or left costume-less she had to patrol alone last night.

"Okay, it was hard to find stuff to do without Myra though." Lisa said sadly. "I still managed to stop a few bad things from happening."

"That's good." Felix said. "Speaking of Myra do you know when they'll be over?" Felix asked as they entered the kitchen.

"Stacy called my phone a moment ago actually." Simon interrupted from the table, munching on a bowl of Corn Flakes. "They're on their way right now."

"I wasn't asking you… and before you get any ideas, you're restricted to light exercises still." Felix said.

"Who died and put you in charge?" Simon asked annoyed.

"You almost died, and you still need to make sure those wounds don't open back up. So light exercising today." Felix argued back.

"At least I didn't get my arm broken." Simon jabbed as he finished off his Corn Flakes and took the bowl to the sink.

"Hssssssssssss…" Felix hissed in response. "They took the sewer tram?" Felix asked out loud.

"Stacy and Myra you mean?" Simon asked. His question was soon answered when Stacy and Myra came up the stairs. Myra was shaking a little bit while Stacy had an arm around Myra.

"Myra come on… it's over now." Stacy told Myra.

"I… it just… it doesn't feel right okay?" Myra responded with a slight quiver in her voice. "I-I mean some of them might have had families… and… i-it feels like I was sentencing them to death in cold blood." Myra continued, her eyes were beginning to water up and Felix could hear her breathing was getting heavier.

"Um… Lisa… you think you could talk to Myra?" Felix whispered. He didn't want to take Stacy away from Myra but he had to talk to Stacy.

"Yeah." Lisa answered. She walked up to Stacy and Myra. They exchanged hellos and hugged. Felix waited patiently as Lisa eventually took Myra towards the living room.

"Stacy." Felix eventually walked up to Stacy once Lisa had taken Myra. "Could you come downstairs? You're going to have to tell me what happened last night."

"Yeah sure…" Stacy sighed. Felix could understand her hesitance, she probably wanted to talk to Myra some more but it couldn't be helped.

A moment later Stacy was holding her hand under a microscope that was hooked up to a computer. "Okay… change in to that glass under the microscope please." Felix instructed.

"Okay." Starting from her hand Stacy's body changed in to glass, though it wasn't quite as clear as if you were looking through a window.

"And change back…" Felix instructed, not taking his eyes off the computer. Felix repeated these instructions over and over again, occasionally having Stacy change in to the glass while holding it facing the microscope lens. "Hmmmm… interesting."

"What?" Stacy asked.

"I'm not positive but every time you activate your powers there's definitely a chemical reaction occurring with the molecular bond of your cells." Felix said, apparently the microscope had some kind of camera since he was replaying a video clip of Stacy's cells changing on and off. "Like in this case your molecules are changing and bonding differently to adapt to changing in to glass." Felix said.

"Um… okay."

"Now what did you say happened last night?" Felix asked.

"When that guy tried to blast me with his flamethrower I just did whatever I do to activate my powers and I absorbed his flames." Stacy explained.

"You turned in to flames now?!" Felix asked, very surprised. _"I knew it… she really could be one of the most powerful mutants on Earth."_ Felix thought. His eyes then strayed to the watch on his wrist. "Oh hell…" Felix muttered.

"What?" Stacy asked.

"Stacy, do me a favor and just keep changing in to whatever while holding your hand under the microscope." Felix said as he started for the stairs.

"Huh? Where are you going?" Stacy asked.

"I should get going before traffic becomes impossible." Felix answered. "Oh, and use that Bunsen burner for flames at one point at least." He said before he disappeared.

"Uh…" Stacy started to say but Felix had already walked out the door. _"Great… how do I make sure no one walks in on me while I'm changing in to flames?"_ Stacy wondered.

Upstairs…

"_Felix seemed rushed."_ Lisa thought. Myra was taking deep breaths at this point on the couch right beside her. "Myra… are you going to be okay now?" Lisa asked.

"I… I just don't know. I-I mean I know they were bad guys… killers even. But still it feels like I wasn't any better than them." Myra answered. "Lisa?" She looked to the side and Lisa wasn't even moving a muscle. "Lisa?"

"Don't worry I'll restart things normally."

"Ah!" Myra gasped. On her other side was a teenage boy dressed completely in white. "Who are you?"

"Hmmm… Stacy tells you everything doesn't she? Surely she mentioned someone by the name of Chris." Chris said while taking a bite from a chili dog.

"Chris… you… you're the one that… controls time?" Myra asked with a slight tremble.

"Yep. That's me." Chris said in a cheery tone. "Ah but why was I here again…? Oh yes. I figured since I wanted the whole team to know me I realized that we haven't been properly introduced. Hello, my name is Chris." Chris said, extending a hand.

"Um… hi…" Myra wasn't sure what to do. She wasn't really in the mood for pleasantries with a stranger, but when someone this powerful was offering a hand to her, she couldn't help but feel that she had best shake his hand.

"Oh and I also came to make an offer." Chris said, sitting on the chair across the room.

"Hm?"

"Do you… want to see what might have been?" Chris asked.

"What might have been?"

"Time branches off based on our choices. Much like a river will have small streams branching off from it. Only these branches are neighboring dimensions. In a way I'm multi-dimensional." Chris explained. "If you like, I could show you the results of other choices you made on Thursday night." He said with a wicked smile.

"…" Myra paused when she heard this. She stayed silent for several minutes before she gave off a big sigh. "No."

"Good choice." Chris said. "Quite frankly I don't think anyone could handle knowing what they might have done. If Lisa had known other things that could have happened the day she met Felix and Joseph she might break down and cry."

"What do you mean?" Myra asked.

"I am the only one I know of that doesn't ride with the river of time. I merely walk alongside of it, going upstream and downstream as I please, stopping the flow, speeding the flow. Following whichever branch of the river I please." Chris said, practically narrating. "But for others the choices they make will lead them further down that river, and they must either accept it, or doom themselves with that choice."

"…"

"The question is Myra… which will you do?" Chris asked. "I must be going now. Do take care." Chris said.

"Myra?"

"Hm?" Myra blinked and everything was as it was. Chris wasn't there, Lisa was beside her.

"You blanked out for a second. Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Lisa asked.

"…" Myra sighed as if unsure.

"You know… we all do things we'll regret." Lisa said. "But… no matter what happens, we'll be there for you. Just like you guys are there for me."

"Thank you." Myra said with a smile.

Meanwhile…

"…" Felix was in an apartment hallway standing outside a particular door. He sighed before he knocked on the door. He heard light footsteps on the other side of the door, and then heard someone lean against the door, likely looking through the eye-hole. Then he heard someone back away from the door quickly, but he knew that she was just within arm's reach of the door. "Elaine… come on I know you're home now." Felix said, his tone practically begging for a response.

"…" A sigh was the only sound he heard from the other side of the door.

"Elaine please… we have to talk." Felix urged. "I'll stand out here all day if I have to."

"Felix… you know how difficult this is for me don't you?" Elaine asked.

"I only have an idea. This is why we need to talk okay. I just want to know if we're still on the same page." Felix said, not even sure if what he was saying made sense.

"Oh…" Elaine sighed and opened the door. "Come in." Elaine said with an even heavier sigh.

"…" As Felix came in and shut the door behind him he took a good look at her apartment. He visited once before. It was pretty well furnished. Very small kitchen to the left and the door leading to the bedroom and bathroom were on the right. She had a small table with two chairs across from the couch adjacent to the bedroom door. The TV was tucked in the corner next to the window and across from the couch.

"Have a seat." Elaine offered half-heartedly, gesturing to the couch. Elaine and Felix occupied opposite sides of the couch and stayed silent for a moment, as if carefully thinking about what to say. Finally Elaine spoke. "How's the arm?"

"It was broken to pieces… but it'll be all better by tomorrow." Felix answered. "That's not the worst I've been through. I might not be invulnerable, but no normal human being could have survived half the injuries I've suffered." Felix said.

"You know… you could have told me." Elaine said, her tone kind of angry.

"Elaine I… it's not that I didn't want to tell you." Felix said, now struggling on how to put it next.

"So throwing someone through my workplace's window and having me witness you two beating each other to death was a better way of letting me know?" Elaine asked, clearly upset.

"Hey… at least I protected you, and not to mention getting my arm broken while doing it!" Felix snapped back.

"I just don't understand why you didn't tell me!" Elaine nearly shouted.

"You didn't give me much incentive TO tell you." Felix retorted, standing up.

"Felix… that's not fair." Elaine said.

"You're right." Felix sighed. Again there was an awkward silence for a moment. "Look Elaine I really am sorry I said that… and I'm sorry I didn't share my secret, especially after you… you told me yours."

"You know… it goes beyond that." Elaine said, tearing up a bit.

"What?"

"What I told you… it goes beyond my dad getting killed by a mutant." Elaine said. "That mutant… was my uncle."

"You never told me that." Felix said, sitting down again.

"I was just a little girl and I didn't fully understand what a mutant was. I knew they were supposed to be different but I didn't care… I loved my uncle." Elaine said. "But he and dad didn't really get along."

"Elaine…" Felix started, wanting to comfort her since this was clearly upsetting her. She had already mentioned her dad being killed by a mutant, he knew that was the reason she was afraid of mutants; but she never mentioned this.

"One day my mom took me shopping because my dad and uncle were getting in to a fight, and as we were driving away our house… it just blew up." Elaine said, tears streaming down her face.

"Blew up… was it…"

"My uncle must have done it somehow… but regardless… both of them died." Elaine said. "And… it could have easily been Mom and I as well. But… since then I… I…" Elaine completely broke down at this point. She buried her face in to her knees and cried.

"Elaine." Felix scooted over closer to her and tried to comfort her. "Elaine… come on. I'm sure your uncle didn't mean for anything to happen… I'm sure." Felix tried saying to comfort her.

"I'm sorry… I-I just lose it whenever I think about it." Elaine said.

"Elaine… yo-you don't hate me do you?" Felix asked.

"No…" Elaine said shaking her head. She stood up and wiped away her tears. "No I don't hate you but… but I still can't get over this… I mean… you being a mutant just came as a shock to…"

"I'm not really a mutant… I wasn't born with my powers." Felix said.

"What?"

"These powers were an accident. A completely freak accident." Felix said. "But in that accident… sometimes I feel like I should have died with all of my old friends."

"Felix you don't really mean that do you?" Elaine asked.

"When I first got my powers I thought I did mean it… but as things happened, now there are so many good things in my life that… that I'm proud of being different. That I'm proud of having these powers." Felix said. "And… I'm proud that I know you. And I don't want these powers to get between us."

"Felix it's not you having powers that makes me uneasy." Elaine said, not taking a seat at one of the chairs at the small table. "It's the fact that you didn't tell me about them. Why couldn't you have just told me? I mean, if I'm your girlfriend and you couldn't trust me enough to tell me… it just… doesn't feel right Felix."

"…" Felix couldn't argue with that. Both of them stayed silent for several minutes before Felix sighed. "Elaine… y-you're right."

"And… if you have all of those enemies, honest to god Felix I'm terrified of those criminals you fight every night." Elaine continued. "I- I just don't feel safe in LA anymore Felix."

"Wait… what?" Felix asked.

"I'm moving out of California and going to stay with my mom." Elaine said. "Felix… I just don't think it's going to work out between us."

"…" Felix stood there in shock for a moment. Felix was afraid this might happen, but for her to say it and also say that she wasn't even staying in California, it just felt like he had been hit by a ton of bricks.

"Felix… I… I really am sorry." Elaine said, leaking another few tears before walking for her bedroom door.

"Wait." Felix said. Elaine stopped and turned to look at Felix again. "You're not… I mean…" Felix sighed again. "Can we still be friends at least?" Felix asked.

"Yeah…" Elaine said. Felix wrapped his left arm around Elaine while Elaine returned the hug while being careful not to touch his broken arm. "Felix… I'm sorry it turned out like this."

"I am too but… I wish you the best." Felix said.

"And you too." Elaine responded. "Goodbye."

"…" As Felix let go, everything seemed to go in slow motion as Elaine and Felix separated. Felix and Elaine looked at each other one more time. They gave each other a weak smile as Felix headed for the door. Felix took his time closing the door. "Goodbye Elaine." Felix said as he walked down the hallway.

Felix had a feeling that this was probably the last time he'd ever see her again. It was fun while it lasted though. _"Elaine… I'm going to miss you. But maybe… maybe this is for the best."_

"_So long."_

…**Notes…**

Felix and Elaine now appear to be no more. Is it forever or is it not? Only time will tell because I'm sure not about to tell you. Read and click that button on the bottom left. You know you want to.


	17. The Teacher

Chronicles of the Dusk

Last chapter, after a quick check-up on how Stacy's powers work Felix left to talk to Elaine; though in the end they agreed that it was for the best to go their separate ways and parted. All we can do now is ask, what happens next? We now jump to the Thursday of that week.

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel Comics, I do own my original characters and the story itself.

…**The Teacher…**

"Okay, don't forget class, page 30 in your physics book." Felix reminded his physics class as they left the room. Felix sat down at his desk at the front of the room and booted up his computer and looked at the stack of papers in his hand. He figured that now would be a good time to get current grades organized. While he was looking through the grades his thoughts drifted back to Sunday.

Flashback…

"**Felix, sometimes you still freak me out." Joseph told him as he and Felix looked over the recorded microscope data on Stacy.**

"**What? Is it the lack of nails thing again?" Felix asked.**

"**Felix we've lived in the same house for two years, I think I'm used to you not having fingernails." Joseph pointed out as he kept replaying the video, going in slow motion. "But I was talking about your arm."**

"**Oh this?" Felix had removed the brace and sling and was moving his right arm freely. "What? If I were you I'd personally be more freaked out by the nails thing."**

"**Ah well…" Joseph sighed, chuckling a bit at Felix's comment. "Hold on, I think I can rig something up real quick." Joseph went over to his side of the basement where, in contrast to Felix's equipment lying around the table, Joseph's equipment was all neatly organized. Joseph selected various components that apparently had something to do with energy generation and he quickly, but carefully threw together a small generator of sorts connecting to a small metal plate by wires.**

"**What are you doing?" Felix asked. That's when he heard the sewer tram coming through the tunnel.**

"**Hey guys." Stacy arrived from the underground tram and stepped out. "What'd you call me for?"**

"**How's Myra doing?" Joseph asked first of all as he tested the switches on the generator he just made.**

"**She's doing a lot better now." Stacy said, clearly some relief in her voice. "What is that?"**

"**Stacy could you put your hand on this plate?" Joseph asked, pointing at the small metal plate on the generator.**

"**You want me to turn in to metal?" Stacy asked, curious about what Joseph means.**

"**No just put your hand there." Joseph instructed. Stacy looked a bit confused as she obeyed. Joseph then pushed a button on the generator.**

"**Ah!" Stacy looked shocked when she suddenly turned in to metal as the generator gave off some sort of spark to the plate. "What? B-but I didn't activate my powers!" Stacy said, clearly confused.**

"**Whoa whoa whoa… don't worry I know you didn't." Joseph said.**

"**Joseph what did you do?" Felix asked.**

"**I noticed something peculiar when I watched that microscope recording so I made this machine to give off a spark of sorts that will stimulate the molecules in her body." Joseph explained.**

"**What?" Stacy asked, changing back to normal.**

"**Basically that machine forces you to activate your powers when it turns on." Felix explained.**

"**Oh… couldn't you have just said that?" Stacy asked.**

"**Hey I may do rap, but I'm a scientist like Felix sometimes too." Joseph shrugged.**

"**Okay but this still doesn't solve my costume problem." Stacy pointed out.**

"**No it doesn't but it's the first step. Now that we have a method of testing and a better idea of how your molecules change themselves we can start making a material that should theoretically change with you." Felix said.**

"**This is going to take some work." Joseph sighed.**

"**No joke." Felix sighed.**

"**Hey Stacy!" Lisa called down.**

"**Hey Lisa! What's up?" Stacy asked. "Oh, thanks guys." She said before walking upstairs.**

"**What was that about?" Joseph asked.**

"**I think I heard Lisa say she wanted help from Stacy on a new hairstyle." Felix sighed.**

End of flashback…

While Felix was going over the grades a separate window on Felix's computer had what progress he and Joseph made on making Stacy new material. Felix had pointed out to Joseph some possible materials and chemicals that would work, at this point they were waiting on the stuff Joseph ordered.

Felix closed that window and then changed the grade book to the chemistry classes' grades, a quick glance over showed what Felix pretty much expected. Myra was easily the top of the class, straight 100's across the board. Nathan was also doing pretty well as he kept an "A" average, albeit a low "A". Stacy had a high "B" on most of her assignments, Felix guessed that having Myra around helped. Not that Stacy was stupid or anything.

A few others had average "C's" three students had "D's". But only one student had an "F".

"_What?! Sheena Pryor?"_ Felix looked at Sheena's in-class grades and homework grades. At this point in time there weren't that many, but the class work had appallingly low grades and the homework turned out flat zeros. Felix looked at the class work assignments listed and went through his desk drawers to find those papers.

RING

"_Hm? Time for class already?"_ Felix didn't even notice the time as he sorted through the papers at his desk. As usual Nathan and his friends arrived first and after a few minutes the rest of the class came in one by one, talking about some rumor or another usually. Felix took special note of when Sheena came in, as usual she had her black make-up and black outfit, though this time it was a black T-shirt, black jeans, and black sneakers. Felix reminded himself that he needed to speak with Sheena after the last bell rang. "Okay class, pass up your homework and we'll get on with the lesson."

Meanwhile…

"Okay great, I'll let him know." Simon said in to his phone while standing outside a dressing room door. "Hey Joseph, that stuff you wanted ordered, it should be delivered today." Simon said through the door.

"Great. Now if only the interview was going to be this easy." Joseph said.

"Oh relax big guy." Simon said as Joseph came out, dressed in a loose white shirt and somewhat baggy black pants, and a black headband. "Just answer the questions honestly… and bearing in mind how they can twist the answers, so don't say anything stupid." Simon said.

"You know Felix would say the same thing when he was my manager." Joseph sighed.

"I am NOT like that guy." Simon said in an almost offended manner. "By the way… about tonight…"

"Yeah, you can come along tonight, you're all patched up now right?" Joseph asked.

"You bet I am… and I'm all too eager to get out there again." Simon said. "Too bad the same can't be said for Stacy."

"Well she needs a new outfit." Joseph said.

"Oh well, more time for her to practice fighting." Simon shrugged. "Now get in there and do your interview." Simon said, pushing Joseph down the hallway.

Meanwhile…

"Okay class, that was the last bell… go home, relax, and while you're at it don't forget about that worksheet." Felix told the class. "Sheena, a word with you." Felix said as Sheena was about to leave.

"Uh! What is it?" Sheena asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"It's concerning your grades." Felix said. "We're practically a week in to the year and already you're failing. And what I want to know is why?" Felix asked.

"It's my grade… what do you care?" Sheena asked, about to make for the door.

"Hold on… it's not necessarily the grade that bothers me…" Felix said, pulling out a few papers that had Sheena's name on it.

"Okay then… what is it then?" Sheena asked, still impatient.

"I want you to take a good look at your class work." Felix set down some papers. The worksheets weren't completed, but the few problems that were answered were all marked with checks. "The few questions you bothered to answer were correct."

"So?" Sheena asked.

"Not only were they correct, all of these answers are as detailed as they could get." Felix said. "It's as plain as day, you understand this material and you know it very very well."

"So… I'm just not interested in chemistry." Sheena said, again turning to walk away.

"Sheena we're not done talking yet." Felix said. Sheena sighed and turned around to face Felix again. "Sheena, you are smart and you have so much potential in chemistry." Felix could have sworn that he heard Sheena's heartbeat jump a little at this. "If you tried you would easily ace this class."

"…" Sheena looked away for a moment. "Hey… look I have to get going. I have a job you know." Sheena said, walking out the door. This time Felix didn't stop her, though he wasn't very satisfied.

"Why can't she just apply herself?" Felix muttered under his breath in frustration. He was starting to wonder if he was really cut out for teaching.

About an hour later Felix was walking out of the school and in to the parking lot. _"Ugh… really, I wasn't like that when I was eighteen… oh great… I'm thinking like I'm forty." _Felix thought.

"Oh come on!"

"Hm?" Felix looked over to where the seniors park their cars. He saw Nathan standing in front of his car looking at the engine. "Hey, Nathan what's wrong?" Felix asked, walking towards Nathan briskly.

"Augh… I don't know, the thing just won't start." Nathan groaned in frustration. "I think it's the battery but everyone from football practice already left."

"Hang on, I have some jumper cables in my car, I'll bring it over." Felix said. A short moment later Felix brought his car over and attached the jumper cables to the car batteries. Felix connected the positive terminals of the batteries first and then the negative terminals. Felix walked back over to his car and then started it.

"Hey teach." Nathan walked over to Felix.

"Yeah?" Felix asked.

"You really bailed me out of a jam here. Thanks." Nathan said.

"Ah I can't have you not getting home in time to do your homework assignment." Felix remarked in a joking tone of voice.

"Oh… teach that's cold." Nathan responded with a laugh. "Hey teach if you don't mind… how old are you?"

"Why do you ask?" Felix asked.

"Well you don't look much older than the rest of us is all I'm saying." Nathan pointed out.

"Ah… should've expected this question. I'm twenty." Felix answered.

"And you're already a teacher? That's aces man." Nathan said, duly impressed.

"Yeah well that'd be a long and boring story if I told you how I did it." Felix said.

"You know you're cool teach." Nathan told him.

"Really?" Felix asked. "Oh that car battery should be charged by now." He turned off the engine and then removed the cables in reverse order he attached them. "Might want to go get a new battery sooner or later."

"Okay, thanks and take care teach." Nathan said, getting in his car and starting the engine.

"Take care!" Felix shouted back before getting in his own car. Felix knew that he had best get home, he still had a few homework assignments to grade and then he needed to see if that stuff Joseph ordered came in so they could work on material for Stacy's new suit.

Later that night…

"Oh yeah! First night back out and I get to take on powers!" Nukenin shouted while back-flipping off of the top of a car that blew up soon after he jumped off.

"Hold still!" A man with long black hair and a scowl generated some pulsating orb of energy from his hand and threw it at Nukenin. Nukenin threw a shuriken at the orb and the shuriken soon exploded.

"So that's how your powers work." Nukenin side-stepped the next orb thrown at him and he threw a shuriken at the man in response.

"Ah!" The man tried to hit the shuriken, but he wasn't very accurate and he missed, allowing the shuriken to nail him in the shoulder. "GAH!" He shouted.

"Let's test out something here." Nukenin drew two throwing knives and threw both of them at the black-haired man.

"AUGH! My hands!!" Nukenin successfully nailed the man in both of his hands.

"Well, throw those orbs at me… I dare ya." Nukenin said, putting his hands up and away from reach of his weapons.

"…" The black-haired man simply scowled at Nukenin.

"I thought so…" Nukenin said.

"Both of you! Hands up where we can see them!" The police soon shouted.

"Oops, that's my cue to exit." Nukenin darted for the nearest alley way.

"Hey!" An officer aimed at Nukenin but another cop stopped him.

"You might hit a civilian!" The other cop scolded.

"Nukenin reporting in… powered criminal is neutralized." Nukenin said.

"Thank you agent poser." Night-Claw mocked over the radio.

"Can it pussycat!" Nukenin growled in to the radio.

"If by 'it' you mean the poor hapless thugs I'm wailing on, then gladly." Night-Claw responded.

Meanwhile…

"Oh you two…" Myra sighed from her desk. "Night-Princess, how're you doing?"

"I've tracked down the bank robbers from earlier today." Night-Princess said. "But I smell silver on them, I think they're armed with silver bullets."

"Who's closest?" Night-Roller asked.

"You are Night-Roller." Myra said.

"Okay I'll home in on Night-Princess' radio signal the moment I'm done here." Night-Roller said.

"How's everyone doing?" Stacy asked from her bed, reading a fashion magazine.

"Same old same old. Night-Claw and Nukenin won't stop arguing."

"At least they don't have to sit on their butts because they don't have a costume." Stacy said, turning her body in to the magazine page paper, then the bed sheet material, and then her diamond earring out of boredom. "Ugh…"

"Okay, I'm en-route Night-Princess, you can move on if you'd like." Night-Roller said.

"Okay."

Meanwhile…

"Any reports… news, police, anything?" Nukenin asked, standing on a roof-top looking bored.

"Not close to your position Nukenin." Myra answered.

"Well great, that powered guy wasn't as much fun as I hoped he'd be." Nukenin said.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!"

"Never mind I've got something." Nukenin immediately darted towards the edge of the roof and jumped over an alleyway to another roof. Then he hopped down in to an alleyway and used the building wall to slow his decent. He found a young woman holding a young man in her arms. "What happened!?" Nukenin practically demanded.

"S-some g-g-guys beat my boyfriend and took his wallet!" The woman wailed.

"Which way did they go?" Nukenin asked hastily.

"They w-went that way!" She pointed in one direction.

"Stay here!" Nukenin ran in the direction she pointed and drew throwing knives in one hand and shuriken in the other. After turning two corners he soon saw a group of five people running down the alley. "Hey!" Nukenin first threw the throwing knives.

"AH!"

"My leg!" Nukenin got two of them in the backs of their legs while the other three turned another corner.

"Come back here!" Nukenin turned the corner but he immediately ducked back behind it when he saw one of them drawing a gun.

BAM BAM

"Crap." Nukenin muttered as the bullets struck the building corner. He immediately turned the corner and threw one shuriken down the alley. It thankfully hit the gun and knocked it out of the man's hand. The gun-wielder immediately turned to run. Nukenin didn't wait, he kept running down the alley after them. After he turned the corner they went down he saw that the alley exited back out in to the streets. "Son of a… grrrrrr!"

"What's wrong?" Night-Princess asked.

"Three guys in a group of muggers I was chasing got away." Nukenin said in frustration, walking back towards the two he crippled earlier. "They bought themselves ample time to blend in with the crowd of freaks in LA." Nukenin said.

"Yeah you're really one to be calling people freaks Mr. Photographic reflex." Night-Claw said sarcastically.

"You're one to talk yourself pussycat." Nukenin said with an angry tone.

Meanwhile…

BAM BAM BAM

"Hey that's enough you two." Night-Roller said in to the radio as he fired small energy blasts at two gunmen that tried to shoot him.

"RAH!" One guy tried to hit him in the back of a head with a crowbar but it bounced off of the force-field and his reward was a punch from Night-Roller.

BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM

"…" Night-Roller turned to look at the last five gunmen and pointed his fingers at all five of them. Five, pea-sized energy pellets shot from his finger-tips and homed in on the gunmen, suddenly bursting in a bright flash when they came in contact with the gunmen. All of the gunmen were knocked unconscious by this. "Okay… it's getting late everyone, I think it's high-time we scattered for the night. Support, just make sure that the police get…"

"I've already made sure the police get to the address you're located at." Myra answered before he could finish.

"Smart girl." Night-Roller sighed, though it indicated that he was impressed.

"Oh and Support." Night-Claw started to say.

"Yes?"

"Make sure you tell our no-doubt bored stiff friend that we've got the material and will start working on it with what little free time we can muster." Night-Claw said.

"Okay."

The next day…

"Okay all the preparations are set; he'll be ready for his concert." Simon said in to the phone. He and Joseph were in the basement; Joseph was hard at work at his work-station with the machine he made on Sunday. "Okay talk to you later."

"All set for Friday night?" Joseph asked.

"Yes, now I beg the question… what are you doing now?" Simon asked.

"Trying to see if some of this cloth material gets some kind of reaction to the machine I made to force Stacy's powers to activate." Joseph said.

"Isn't the pussycat supposed to do that?" Simon asked.

"Well first I need to see what reacts and what doesn't so that Felix knows what we need to do with what cloth. For the next few days Felix and I are going to do a lot of trial and error." Joseph said right as one of the cloths he tested caught fire. "Gah!" He quickly threw it to the floor and started stomping on it. "Well it's a reaction."

"This ought to be amusing…" Simon muttered.

At School…

"I'm telling you, Teach totally got me out of a jam yesterday." Nathan whispered to one of his friends.

"Dang… no kidding, that mom of yours would have skinned you alive if you got home late." His friend responded.

"Okay everyone, pass up your worksheets!" Felix said to the class. The class obeyed and handed their worksheets up the row until they finally all made it up to Felix. "And…"

RING

"That's the bell everyone! Remember, no homework on Fridays, go home, relax, and don't do anything illegal." Felix said.

"Hey… teach…" Sheena started to say.

"Hm? Yes Sheena?" Felix asked.

"Well… did you look at our homework already?" Sheena asked.

"Yes I did actually…" Felix then pulled out a particular worksheet. The grade on it was a ninety-four and was signed with Sheena's name. "And I'm impressed." Felix said.

"Hey I kind of thought about what you said and… is there any way I can…" Sheena paused, as if she couldn't believe what she was about to say.

"…" Felix waited patiently for her to say something, careful not to change his posture or facial expression lest his body-language discourage her from saying something.

"Could I… somehow make up the work from the past few days?" Sheena finally asked, looking away from him.

"Hm… well you'd have to stay after school for a few days. But it can be arranged." Felix said with a smile.

"Yeah, I think I can talk to my boss." Sheena said.

"Great, then we'll start Monday." Felix said.

"Okay then, guess I'll see ya." Sheena said, walking out of the room.

"_Well… how's that for a surprise?"_ Felix asked himself. Maybe he could pull off being a teacher after all.

…**Notes…**

Well, reviews or no reviews, I know there's someone reading this story so I'll keep writing this story, even if it's only for a little while longer. But nonetheless, read and review please.


	18. The Student

Chronicles of the Dusk

When we last left off, Felix and Joseph are still in the process of figuring out how to make a new material for Stacy's material, Nukenin is finally back out on the field but fails to catch a whole gang of muggers, and while these are going on Felix's career as a teacher goes on with helping Sheena Pryor with getting caught up in school. We now jump from Friday at the end of last chapter to Wednesday afternoon.

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel Comics, I do own my original characters and the story itself.

…**The Student…**

"How's it look?" Sheena asked Felix. Felix had situated himself in a chair at Sheena's table so he could take a quick glance at the paper she just finished.

"Ah no there's a mistake right here…" Felix said, pointing at one part of the paper.

"Hm? Oh I see what you mean." Sheena said.

"Here." Felix gave Sheena her paper back. As he watched her erase her mistake and re-write her answer Felix couldn't help but smile with a sense of satisfaction. When she came in on Monday Sheena had made up most of the homework she was supposed to do and she caught on to the class work she had missed without a hitch. "That's correct." He told her before taking the paper back.

"I thought so." Sheena said with a smile.

"Well Sheena, besides that one mistake that you corrected this paper is entirely correct." Felix said, standing up and going back to his desk. "Oh… four o'clock."

"Oh thanks for telling me, I have to go before I'm late for work." Sheena said, putting things up in her backpack.

"I'm just curious, do they actually allow you to wear that make-up at work?" Felix asked. Not that he minded it anymore, he had gotten used to how it looked on her and the heavy mascara smell didn't bother him near as much anymore.

"They just ask I get the lip-stick off before clocking in." Sheena answered. "Oh yeah teach…"

"Yes?" Felix asked. He noted how she had used his nickname among the students with less apathy than before.

"I…"

"No way man!" A sudden yelling interrupted what Sheena was about to say, then followed by the sound of a locker slamming.

"Ugh what's going on?" Felix grumbled, going in to the hallway to make sure no trouble was going to start.

"Probably just some idiots being stupid." Sheena also grumbled as she followed Felix with her back-pack hanging from one shoulder.

"My momma keeps tellin' me those mutants are the devil's kids and I ain't doubtin' my momma." A Caucasian guy was shouting in a black guy's face.

"Oh come on man, what you bein' racist fo'?!" The black guy shouted.

"Hey it ain't like I bein' racist wit' you so be all up in my face about it!" The other one yelled back.

"Yo forget dis'! They jus' people too!" The black guy yelled. "It ain't like I be rollin' wit' 'em."

"Hey come back here!" The two just walked off continuing to bicker.

"That's what they're arguing about? That's stupid." Sheena sighed.

"What do you think about mutants?" Felix asked, almost laughing at how Sheena phrased that.

"Mutants? Eh… I just think they're cool." Sheena said with a smile. "Oh yeah, I was going to say that I'm off work tomorrow so I can stay longer."

"Well in that case we may be able to get you completely caught up tomorrow." Felix said. "Well see you tomorrow, drive carefully." Felix reminded her.

"You too teach." Sheena said before walking down the hallway.

RING

"Hm?" Felix picked up his cell. "Hello?"

"Hey Felix, it's Lisa." Lisa said from the other end.

"Oh hello Lisa." Felix said, walking back in to his room and getting his stuff together. "I just finished so I'll be on my way home."

"Okay, I just called to talk." Lisa said.

At the other end…

"How come she… umph… gets to talk on… her phone?" Stacy panted. She was having a sparring session with Simon.

"Because we finished her training session, and you need more practice since you haven't been out the last few nights." Simon told her, he wasn't anywhere near as out of breath as Stacy was.

"Felix wants to know how badly Simon is treating you." Lisa said, sitting cross-legged on the ceiling to stay out of their way.

"Badly… AH!" Stacy squealed when Simon flipped her on to her back. "Can he please hurry up and get my suit ready."

"Hey, I need to make sure you aren't rusty when you go back out eventually." Simon said.

"You know this is hardly fair…" Stacy whined.

"Would you rather you turned in to the punching bag material and stand still?" Simon asked.

"At least it wouldn't hurt." Stacy sighed.

"Stacy he wants to know something else." Lisa said.

"What?" She asked.

"Did you do your homework?" Lisa asked for Felix.

Later…

"Okay, good luck Night-Princess and Nukenin." Joseph said to Night-Princess and Nukenin.

"Thank you." Night-Princess responded. This time her red hair was styled with two braids going around the top of her head and tying up in the back while the rest of her hair hung low.

"You know if you guys don't finish that stuff soon I'm going to make you train so you don't lose your touch." Nukenin practically threatened.

"Hey poser." Felix said.

"Yeah?" Nukenin turned around. "Umph!" Felix jabbed him in the chest.

"I don't think I've lost it yet." Felix said with a practically evil grin.

"I'll get you for that pussycat…" Nukenin groaned as he and Night-Princess got on the tram and left.

"He does have a point though… we can't skip patrol too many more nights." Joseph said.

"I know but it wouldn't feel right to leave Stacy sitting on her bed at home." Felix said. "Okay… test eighty-seven…" Felix placed some cloth on Joseph's machine that had a peculiar smell to it. "This one better work, I had to soak the hell out of this one in one of my most expensive chemical mixes."

"After eighty-six trial and error tests on this cloth stuff, I hope so too." Joseph activated the machine and after a spark the cloth disappeared. "Did we disintegrate it?"

"No I still smell it…" Felix said. He placed his fingers on the machine, then he slid them off as if pinching something between his two fingers. "I'm holding it." Felix said.

"What?" Joseph felt the air beneath Felix's fingers, he didn't see anything but he felt the cloth. "We made it invisible!?"

"Augh…" Felix groaned. He ran over to his computer and inputted this test as another failed one. "Gee freakin' whiz… test twenty-two made the cloth as hard as a rock but still cloth…" Felix started.

"Test thirty-nine melted." Joseph continued.

"Test sixty-one tasted like Snickers…" Felix sighed. "Joseph we could've opened up an all-purpose cloth manufactory with all of this crap."

"I hear ya." Joseph sighed.

Elsewhere…

"Dammit why doesn't she just die!?" Some thugs were shooting Night-Princess over and over again. Naturally she just ignored them since the bullet holes healed themselves very shortly after she got shot. She delivered a flying kick to the first one that shot her, knocking him to the floor.

"Don't try anything else." She warned softly. However one of them tried to punch her. She easily grabbed him by his arm and swung him to the last guy behind her.

"Hey I need back-up here." Nukenin said in to the radio.

"What's wrong?" Night-Princess asked as she made her way out of the basement she was just in.

"These guys are playing it smart and keeping me behind cover." Nukenin summarized.

"Okay I'm on my way." Night-Princess dissolved in to a swarm of bats and the swarm flew off in one direction.

Back to the basement…

"Test ninty-one…" Felix held up a cloth that was rapidly changing colors. "Is a freakin' rainbow in one…"

"Let's take a break." Joseph sighed.

"I'm with you on that one." Felix sighed. He created another chemical mixture in a small tub, and then left a cloth to soak in it. "We'll throw that one in to the toaster oven to heat it after it's soaked long enough." Felix said. "You have a concert Friday right?" Felix asked.

"Yeah I do…" Joseph responded as they walked upstairs and in to the living room. "Simon is currently working things out to where he isn't going to have to be there so he can patrol Friday night."

"Guess I'll go out on Friday even if we don't finish up with this material." Felix said. "You're not feeling guilty about not being out there are you?" Felix asked.

"Nah…" Joseph said. "You guys can handle it well enough."

"And this team would be nothing without you Joseph." Felix said. "I mean heck, even the poser listens to you."

"You're really going to have to lighten up on Simon, especially after that Hell's Haven incident." Joseph chuckled.

"I'll stop calling him a poser as soon as he stops calling me pussycat."

"It's gonna be a loooooooong wait then." Joseph sighed.

"Yep."

"Say how's teaching been working out for you?" Joseph asked.

"Pretty well, I've only had one student failing…"

"This early in the year?"

"Yeah don't interrupt…" Felix said. "But Sheena has been coming in to see me to make up the work and she's actually quite brilliant."

"Sheena?"

"Yeah that's the student. Keep up Joseph." Felix barbed. "She's almost entirely caught up."

"Okay then, sounds good." Joseph said. "How are Stacy and Myra doing in that class?"

"Stacy is doing well, not absolutely brilliant but well. Myra on the other hand… she's completely acing this class." Felix said.

"I knew she was brilliant." Joseph said.

Meanwhile…

RATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA

"Damn it…" Nukenin was ducking behind a police car with two other cops from automatic fire that was peppering the car. There were three guys holding up large shields and they would occasionally move their shields slightly so they could aim and fire. And the worst part was they took turns so that they would give each other time to reload their ammo. "Ha!" Nukenin tried to throw a throwing knife at them again, but as he kind of expected, they ducked behind their shields.

"Why aren't you getting them?" One of the cops asked him over the gunfire peppering the car.

"Why don't you go out there and ask them nicely if they'll turn themselves in?" Nukenin asked sarcastically.

"Ha we've so got them." One of the gunmen said confidently, suddenly a swarm of bats flew in and fluttered around the three. "Hey what the hell?!"

"It's one of them! I heard about this in prison!" One of other ones yelled. Night-Princess formed right behind that one and then picked him up. "Whoa!" The man was hurled to the nearest car where and knocked unconscious.

"Why you… AUGH!" One of the other gunmen turned to aim at Night-Princess, but dropped his guard and soon had a shuriken in his arm and side. Nukenin had ditched his cover and ran right at the gunmen.

"You!" The last one turned to shoot Nukenin, but right as he pulled the trigger Night-Princess moved right in front of the barrel and took a bunch of shots point-blank to her face.

"Uh…" She grunted as she eventually hit the ground. But she bought enough time for Nukenin to run up to the gunman.

"You'll pay for that one." Nukenin first kicked the gun out of the man's hand and then gut-punched him.

"AUGH!!"

"Grrrrr…" The one Nukenin hit with shuriken earlier was standing back up, but Nukenin turned around and kicked him across the head, knocking him out.

"Hiyah!" He then turned around and punched the last one in the face, knocking him to the ground. "Hey Night-Princess you okay?"

"…" Night-Princess was moving but barely. Her face wasn't even recognizable it was so littered with bullets and torn flesh.

"Ugh… better get you somewhere where you're not going to gross people out when you heal." Nukenin said, clearly grossed out.

"Okay…" Night-Princess whispered hoarsely as Nukenin scooped her up and walked off the streets, for once the police decided not to bother him.

Meanwhile…

"…" Felix and Joseph were looking at the latest test cloth they exposed to Joseph's machine. Felix picked it up. Part of it was just normal cloth, but the rest of it had turned in to metal. "Test ninty-two… hold on." Felix took the metal plate from Joseph's machine and the cloth. Felix quickly compared them under the microscope. "We have a partial success!"

"It's the same metal as the plate?" Joseph asked excitedly.

"Well part of it is…" Felix looked back at the ingredients and steps he took with this cloth. "Let's just change…"

A moment later the two of them had another cloth set up and ready. "I have a gut feeling we may finally have it…" Felix crossed his fingers, hoping he was right.

"Okay let's try one more time…" Joseph activated the machine. This time the cloth became metal completely. Just to double-check Felix compared the plate and now metallic cloth under the microscope. "Well?"

"Joseph… we are officially freakin' geniuses!!" Felix said. "We did it!"

"Seriously?"

"Yes I'm serious!" The two laughed almost hysterically and gave each other a quick hug and handshake. "Well come on let's get to making the rest of this in to cloth she can actually use!" Felix said, opening a cardboard box and taking out a whole bunch of cloth. "Oh but first we need to make sure that dye will work with it."

"Good point." Joseph said.

The next day…

"Dad I have a healing factor… I completely recovered a few minutes after Simon got me off the streets." Lisa told Joseph who was checking her face for any injuries.

"Lisa you took a machine gun point-blank to the face." Joseph said. "Open your mouth and let me look." He insisted.

"But I've been decapitated before…" Lisa protested.

"Open." Joseph said more sternly. Lisa opened nonetheless while Joseph shined a flashlight in her mouth and looked past her sharp canines. "Yeah I guess you're good."

"You don't have to worry so much." Lisa said.

"Oh Lisa could you do me a favor and go pull that cloth I left to soak in the bathtub. Pull it out in ten minutes from now." Joseph instructed.

"Okay." Lisa said as she started for the stairs, noticing the clock read four-fifty.

"Stacy's going to be glad that she can dye it any color." Joseph commented.

"You might as well give Lisa the recipe and have her finish the stuff Joseph." Simon said walking in. "Because YOU'RE spending the rest of the day rehearsing." Simon told Joseph sternly.

"Ah… right…" Joseph said.

"Hey, just doing my job and making sure you're going to be a hit." Simon said with a shrug. "Augh… phone's vibrating, probably someone still not sure about how the set-up is. Make sure you rehearse I'm going to the concert stage." Simon sighed.

"Alright I promise." Joseph said. "Here's how the whole thing is done." Joseph told Lisa as he handed her a piece of paper.

"Okay." Lisa said. "Hey dad… if you have time you think you could walk outside with me?" Lisa asked.

"…"

"What? You know I'll put on my sunscreen properly." Lisa asked.

"Ah alright." Joseph said with a smile, he gave her a kiss on the forehead before walking upstairs.

"…" Lisa smiled warmly at this.

Meanwhile…

"Mmmmmmm…" Sheena had a somewhat frustrated look on her face as she looked at her paper and periodic table.

"Something wrong?" Felix asked, walking over and standing right next to Sheena.

"I just can't find mercury on here… and that's all I need for this question." Sheena said.

"Oh that's all?" Felix asked smiling. "Mercury is right here." Felix said, pointing near the bottom of the table at element number eighty.

"Hg… got it." Sheena said. "Well that's it." Sheena said.

"That it is Sheena. With this you are all caught up." Felix said. "Heck, I'm pretty sure you might have just brought yourself up to an 'A'." Felix told her.

"Seriously?" Sheena asked.

"Seriously." Felix responded.

"Cool." Sheena said, picking up her stuff and rather slowly putting it in her backpack. "Hey teach, thanks for everything." Sheena told him.

"Don't mention it." Felix said, inputting the grade on this paper in to his computer. "Hey I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Yeah?" Sheena asked.

"When you turned in your form at the beginning of the year it was signed with your signature… and the school records do say that you are legally responsible for yourself. I was just wondering, why?" Felix asked.

"…" Sheena looked away and put her stuff in her backpack.

"You don't have to answer, after all it's your personal business." Felix quickly said as he put his stuff in his case.

"I got emancipated last year when I was seventeen." Sheena finally said.

"Emancipated?" Felix asked surprised.

"Yeah, I got fed up with my dad and managed to get emancipation." Sheena said. "I've been living on my own ever since." Sheena continued with a shrug as she walked out the door.

"I see." Felix said. _"She's been supporting herself the entire time? You really can't judge a book by its cover."_ He thought as he followed her out, seeing as how the parking lot was the same way.

"Hey Sheena!"

"Hm? Oh great…" Sheena sighed, clearly annoyed as she spotted who shouted at her. Felix looked over to find some guy standing next to Sheena's rather old looking car. He was a Caucasian, he was just as tall as Felix and fairly well built. Felix could smell cigarette smoke on this guy, apparently he smoked. "What do you want Shane?" Sheena asked.

"You told me you was off work today but why weren't you at your apartment!?" Shane asked.

"I was getting caught up here!" Sheena snapped back, not completely angry but it was easy to tell she was irritated.

"You tell me you was off work and you don't tell me about this!?" Shane asked angrily.

"I don't have to tell you everything Shawn!" Sheena argued back.

"You don't tell me anything anymore!" He said, taking a step forward. Felix had seen enough muggings and robberies to tell if someone was about to get aggressive and decided to intervene.

"Hey! What is going on here?" Felix demanded.

"You stay outta this!" Shane snapped at Felix.

"Shane that's a teacher you dumbass!" Sheena yelled.

"What's the deal? I ain't a student here."

"You are on school property though." Felix said. "Now tell me just who you are and tell me what is going on here WITHOUT starting any trouble." Felix said forcefully, rather put off by Shane's attitude towards him.

"He's my boyfriend…" Sheena muttered.

"_This asshole?"_ Felix wondered.

"Wait a second… you the one she's been staying with?" Shane asked.

"She has been getting caught up in my class over the last few days. And if it makes you feel any better she is fully caught up in my class." Felix said.

"What have you been putting in her head!?" Shane demanded, now taking a step towards Felix.

"Hey I put stuff in my own head Shane!" Sheena said, getting really pissed off now. "Screw this!" Sheena yelled, stomping over to the driver's side of her car, getting in, and starting the car.

"Hey Sheena where you goin'? Come on wait up!" Shane said, now yelling with an odd mix of an angry tone and an apologetic tone. "Son of a…" Shane cursed under his breath when Sheena drove off. He then wheeled around to glare at Felix.

"_Okay… now what does this genius want?"_ Felix thought angrily.

"You… I don't know what you're teachin' her in that class of yours but you can give it someone else." Shane said almost threateningly.

"Hey now wait just a moment…" Felix said.

"You stay away from my girl! You hear me!?" Shane shouted, storming off to his car, getting in and turning it on. As Shane drove off Felix couldn't help but watch him drive off.

"RrrrrrrrrrrrrAAAAHH!!" Felix slammed his fist in to the light post he was standing next to, and he left a decently sized dent in the side of it. His hand hurt a little from it but he really didn't give a damn right now. _"He's talking like I've been coming on to her. Sheena's stubborn sure, but how is someone as great as her dating a complete asshole like that!? Ugh I wanted to kick him right where it hurts so badly."_ Felix thought angrily as he got in his car.

He hadn't been this mad since Deadpool nearly killed Elaine nearly two weeks ago. _"Ugh… great… now I'm thinking of Elaine AND that ass…"_ Felix thought. Thinking about Elaine really only made him mad at himself for not being able to just tell her up front about his secret, and that on top of Shane really didn't help his temper. And these thoughts just mixed with how bad he felt for not being able to do anything about Elaine nearly two weeks ago and how unable he felt to help Sheena out a moment ago.

Yeah, he was definitely going on patrol tonight. Right now Felix just really wanted to go out and fight the good fight. _"Just forget about it Felix… augh why would Sheena be with a thug like that? No no! Forget about it…"_

"_Just… forget about it…"_

…**Notes…**

Well I think I managed to pull this one off. Let me know what you think in a review.

P.S. Special thanks to hermitgenius for the reviews.


	19. I'll be there for you

Chronicles of the Dusk

When we last left off Felix and Joseph had finally managed to create material for Stacy's new costume. In the meantime Felix had been helping Sheena get caught up in chemistry, learning a bit more about her. He even had the bad fortune of meeting her boyfriend Shane. It is now the next day.

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel Comics, I do own my original characters and the story itself.

…**I'll be there for you…**

"…" Stacy was sitting quietly through a boring lecture her World History teacher was giving the class. Stacy didn't particularly like World History, she didn't really do too well in the class and Myra was in a computer class during this period. Even so she wasn't really paying too much attention to the class anyways.

"_It's going to be awesome…"_ Stacy had been drawing in her notebook; in particular she was drawing possibilities for her new costume. She was ecstatic last night when she heard that Felix and Joseph had nearly finished the material. She was really looking forward to getting the material and getting started on the outfit.

"Miss Nox?"

"Hm?" Stacy suddenly looked up.

"Would you care to answer the question please?" The teacher asked her.

"Ummmmm…" Stacy knew she was in trouble.

Meanwhile…

"_You'd think after a night of pounding on thugs and so many science classes I'd feel better."_ Felix thought to himself. But he wasn't feeling any better.

"Hey you see that light post outside?" Felix could hear two girls going down the hallway.

"Yeah, you think a car hit it?"

"Maybe but I would think that the car would've taken more damage than the pole."

Felix knew exactly which light post they were talking about, after all, he is the one who put that dent in it. After hearing Shane yelling like the idiot he makes himself out to be he got really ticked off. He wasn't sure what made him angrier about that moment though. Was it because Shane was so outright disrespectful? Or was it because he was such an awful person and still Sheena's boyfriend?

"_Sheena… how did she feel about all of that… and why am I even asking myself…"_

"Hey teach…"

"Nathan? What are you doing here?" Felix turned to the door to see Nathan standing there. "This is my planning period, do you need something?"

"Yeah I was wondering if I could just… chill here until class lets in." Nathan said, walking towards his seat.

"What about your class?"

"I have a free period at this time." Nathan said.

"Alright." Felix agreed before turning his attention back to his computer. "Is there a particular reason?"

"Just… trying to get away from my ex…" Nathan said.

"Your ex? You have a girlfriend?"

"Had a girlfriend." Nathan corrected. "We've been fighting for a little while and we broke up yesterday… but knowing her she's not going to let me get rid of her that easily."

"You know, I'm not going to kick you out of this room but you really should talk to her." Felix said.

"What?"

"Hear me out…" Felix said. "For better or for worse if you just leave things as they are and keep avoiding her, you're going to end up having broken off without saying anything…" Felix started.

"Fine by me…" Nathan muttered.

"Someone told me that when you get older, you don't regret the things that you did… you regret the things you didn't do." Felix told Nathan.

"…" Nathan didn't respond verbally. But Felix guessed from his slight pulse change and frozen posture that Nathan heard him. Felix turned back to his computer and continued organizing grades.

"_Although… I really wonder if I'm one to be preaching that."_ Felix wondered. To be honest he felt like talking with Elaine might have been a bit of a mistake, or at the very least he felt the direction he and Elaine carried the conversation might have been a mistake. _"Forget about it… just forget about all of it…"_ Felix tried telling himself. _"There's less than an hour until chemistry, then you can focus on that."_

Meanwhile…

"Ugh…" Stacy was in the girl's restroom. The first thing she did was go for the sink and wash her hands. "Why does that teacher have to make a fool of me like that?"

"…" Stacy was a little startled by some sniffling she heard from one of the bathroom stalls.

"Hm?" Stacy walked towards the farthest bathroom stall. "Who's there?" Stacy asked concerned.

"Nobody…"

"Hang on…" Stacy wasn't positive, but she was sure she recognized that voice. "Wait… Sheena?" Stacy asked. She and Sheena weren't friends. Sheena was a senior and Stacy was a junior, and Sheena hardly talked to anybody. In fact she didn't really say anything in class except for the last few days when she answered a question for class.

"Yeah… what's it to you?" Sheena asked through the stall door. She wasn't about to walk out of the stall door, her eye-shadow was running down her face a bit from the tears that trickled down her cheeks.

"Hey is something wrong?" Stacy asked. Sure she didn't really know Sheena, but she wasn't about to just ignore her when she was crying.

"Oh what do you care?" Sheena asked, still sniffling a bit.

"Look I promise not to tell anyone, I can keep a secret." Stacy insisted.

"…" Sheena paused for a breath. "Oh it's just my boyfriend…" Sheena confessed.

"Your boyfriend?" Stacy had to stop herself from asking 'You have a boyfriend?'. She was surprised that the anti-social Sheena even had a boyfriend.

"Yeah…" Sheena said. "Look it's… it's nothing. He just made himself look like such an idiot in front of… someone. And in front of me too…" Sheena said. "Happy? Now… just leave me alone okay?"

"…" Stacy doubted that it was 'nothing' as Sheena said. She was crying in there after all. But Stacy knew better than to keep prying against Sheena's will. "Okay."

"…" Sheena listened as Stacy's footsteps made for the bathroom door. "Hey you're in my chemistry class aren't you?"

"Yeah." Stacy responded.

"Tell teach that… that I'll be a bit late." Sheena said before a few more tears trickled from her eyes and more eye-shadow ran down her cheeks.

"Okay…" Stacy sighed, walking out of the bathroom. _"I hope she's okay… now I want to know what happened."_

Sheena just leaned against the wall of that bathroom stall trying and failing to stop crying. Her relationship with Shane had been in decline for some time now. And that sure as hell wasn't the first time he made himself out to be a big ass in front of someone before. But this time, why did it matter this time?

"_Shane used to be there… he used to help me even when I didn't want it… just like teach."_ Sheena thought. She took some toilet paper tried to wipe her face off with it. _"Screw this… I'm better off forgetting about this."_

Meanwhile…

Lisa was at home vacuuming. Everyone else was out and about so she decided she'd clean up while they were out. She was listening to her iPod while she was vacuuming, not that she needed it to be that loud thanks to her super-human hearing. A large portion of her songs were from Joseph's albums, however she had a few others songs.

"_I love this song…"_ Lisa thought. The next song that started playing on her iPod was "Iris" by Goo Goo Dolls. As the song played she couldn't help but wonder. _"Is there someone out there who could accept me?"_ Lisa felt her fangs with her tongue. Lisa shook her head as if trying to shake the thoughts out of her head. She then sang along to the chorus. "…when everything's made to broken… I just want you to know who I am…"

Later…

"Well done Myra and Stacy…" Felix said. Felix had everyone at the small lab stations. Everyone cut off the tops of eye-droppers and put small chunks of dry ice in and then they had to fold and close the droppers. After Stacy folded their dropper closed the dry ice inside the dropper suddenly melted.

POP

"Ah!" Stacy gasped when their dropper suddenly popped.

"Whoooooaaa…" Some of the guys said in amazement.

"You see class, pressure plays a large part in whether objects are solid, liquid, or gas as well. The pressure in the eye-dropper was so great that the carbon dioxide melted rapidly before the dropper burst." Felix explained.

POP

POP

POP

"…" Felix chuckled a bit as a few more droppers popped from the pressure the students were creating. But despite this Felix still felt uneasy. Felix and Sheena passed each other a glance every now and then.

RING

"Oh time to go already? Okay everyone! Pack up and have a good weekend!" Felix said. Felix watched as the students walked out, returning a nod Nathan gave him as he walked out and also giving a nod to Stacy and Myra.

"Hey… teach."

"Yes Sheena?" Felix asked. Sheena didn't walk out with the other students and stopped close to Felix's desk. Felix couldn't help but wonder what she was going to say.

"Um… look sorry about yesterday." Sheena said.

"Yesterday? If you're talking about… Shane was it? Well don't worry about it you aren't responsible." Felix said, turning to erase the board, yet still he looked at Sheena out of the corner of his eyes.

"No I mean… augh." Sheena paused for a minute. "Look I'm just sorry about him okay. He's just been… having a tough go of it lately." Sheena said.

"…" Felix heard Sheena's heart-rate jump a bit. He knew she was lying, that and something else was probably bothering her. "Hey we all fall on tough times…" Felix said. "Did you talk to him afterwards?"

"Yeah I did…" Sheena said. "Just over the phone, though that was hardly any different from the parking lot." Sheena shrugged.

"I…" Felix stopped. He wanted to say that he hoped that things got better between the two of them, but something stopped him from saying it. "Well… I'll see you next Monday." Felix said hastily.

"Yeah." Sheena nodded as she walked out, sounding somewhat disappointed.

"_What did I just do?"_ Felix asked himself. Why didn't he just say what he was going to say? _"Why didn't I just say… 'I hope things get better for you two.'? Why?"_

Felix pondered more and more on the subject. After thinking for a few minutes he knew why. Because he genuinely didn't hope things improved between them. He felt that Sheena should just dump Shane and actually find someone who'll do better for her than come over to her school and start a scene. He felt she could have, should have, someone so much better.

"…" Felix pulled out his phone and dialed a number on it. "Hey Stacy… I'll be by tonight to drop off the material you'll need to make your new costume." Felix said. _"Felix… there's nothing you can do… just focus on your life…"_ He told himself.

Elsewhere…

"_What the hell did I want him to say!?" _Sheena was in her car caught in traffic. _"Ugh… why did I bring Shane up with him again? He probably forgot all about it anyways…"_ Sheena thought angrily, berating herself for even talking to Felix about Shane again.

What did she want him to say? She just didn't know. Sheena just angrily reached for the radio and turned it up as loud as possible, listening to the heavy metal blaring through her car. She then pulled out the phone and typed down a text message.

"D u wnt 2 mt tnght?"

That night…

"So basically it's just going to be me and the pussycat tonight?" Simon asked, securing his belt that was carrying his weapons. He then picked up his mask and held it.

"Yeah, Lisa wanted to go to the concert with me tonight and after all the soloing she's been doing the last few nights I figured she could use a break." Joseph said.

"Great… and not to mention the pussycat will be arriving late." Simon grumbled before slipping his mask on over his head.

"He went to drop off Stacy's things for her suit." Lisa said, putting a blonde wig over her head and a little jewelry on. "And Louis can help you." Lisa's eyes faded from blue to purple as Louis' silhouette crawled out of her shadow.

"Yeah… thanks…" Nukenin said. "Oh, and I'll bet you that the pussycat forgot his costume and will have to come back and get it." Nukenin grumbled, walking downstairs towards the sewer tram.

Stacy's house…

"…" Stacy was laying down on her bed while Myra was booting up her computer. They both stayed quiet as Myra began opening up Joseph's programs for patrol nights. Soon a map of the city appeared on her screen and Nukenin's signal pinged on.

"Come in Nukenin, respond if you're receiving this." Myra said in to the headset microphone.

"Affirmative Support." Nukenin responded. "So what's the first order of business?"

"There was a bank robbery a few hours ago. But that would be more of Night-Princess' or Night-Claw's expertise." Myra said.

"Yeah… Night-Princess left me the overgrown mutt." Nukenin said. "Whoa hey! Chill!"

"Okay then just have him sniff them out." Myra said.

"I hope he gets here soon with my suit material." Stacy said. "It'll be good to be out and about again…"

"And with a costume that won't burn." Myra said.

"Yeah… and one that won't be thoroughly soaked when I change to water…" Stacy sighed. She looked at her right arm. "You know… hard to believe that this isn't the arm I was born with…"

"That's right…" Myra sighed. "You had to make a completely new arm."

"Yeah…" Stacy responded.

RING

"Hello?" Stacy picked up her phone.

"Well at least Night-Princess can't claim the title of being the only one who's lost limbs." Felix's voice said in to the phone.

"Felix…? Wait how did you know I…" Stacy then turned to the window in between hers and Myra's bed. She got up and looked out the window to see Felix beside the house holding two gym bags.

"Catch." Felix said.

"Okay." Stacy changed to diamond just to be safe and when Felix tossed both bags up she easily caught them and pulled them in.

"Hang on." Felix took a step back, and then jumped up towards the window as if diving. He sailed through the window perfectly and rolled to a land on Stacy and Myra's floor.

"Whoa!" Myra was a little startled. "That was a little daring wasn't it?"

"Maybe." Felix said. "Anyways just a few things to tell you regarding the cloth." Felix said.

"Okay…" Stacy held some of the cloth that was inside the bag, gripped it tightly, and then changed in to the rug material, the cloth changed in to the same rug material with her. "Cool!"

"Shhhhh…" Felix said. "But anyways, for the cloth to work when you wear it the outfit has to be skintight on some part of your body." Felix said.

"So if I had lose pants and tight waste?" Stacy asked.

"That would work." Felix said. "And it can be dyed any color you want to dye it. Though, for all intents and purposes, it would be best if you made it some kind of dark color." Felix told her.

"Okay I can do that…" Stacy said. "Hmmmmm… now what to make it…"

"Well I need to get back to Joseph's." Felix said.

"Why can't you just start patrol from here?" Myra asked.

"I… forgot my costume." Felix sighed. _"That and I need a walk."_

Meanwhile…

"…" Sheena was leaning against the wall of a Starbucks building. Her face showed she was clearly impatient with something. _"Damn it Shane… I asked if you wanted to meet for a date, you said here at this time… and you aren't here."_

Sheena's gaze averted to the rooftops across the street where she saw Nukenin leaping across the rooftops. Sheena couldn't help but smile when she saw him. "Cool…" She said with a low voice. She then turned to look down the street. _"Oh there he is…"_ She thought when she saw Shane down the street. _"Ugh… I didn't want him to bring his stupid friends…"_ She thought annoyed when she saw two other people talking with him. She then saw Shane go down an alley with his friends. _"Hey where's he going!?"_

"Yo you sure you want to do this now?" One of them asked.

"Yeah I've got a bit o' time before I meet up with Sheena." Shane responded.

"You're still with her? I thought you broke up already."

"You sayin' something about Sheena?" Shane growled threateningly, pulling out a crowbar.

"Whoa whoa man! Jus' save dat fo' later." His friend said defensively. "Hey dere he is."

"Hm?" The three were following some middle-aged guy with five o'clock shadow. He saw Shane carrying a crowbar and immediately sensed trouble. "W-what do you want from me?"

"Hand over your money if you know what's good for you." One of Shane's friends threatened.

"H-here just don't hurt me." The man threw his wallet to the ground.

"Hold him while I check it out." Shane said. The other two ran and grabbed the man before he could get away while Shane looked at the wallet. "It's empty." Shane said threateningly.

"L-look I'm just r-running short." The man struggled to try and get out of the grip of Shane's friends.

"Don't you lie to me! This wallet ain't got nothin'! No license, no credit cards, nothin'! You tried to pull that old trick!" Shane accused. "You're gonna deserve this for tryin' to pull a fast one on me…" Shane growled. He raised the crowbar was about to hit the man.

"Shane!?"

"Wha-?" Shane turned around to see Sheena staring at him in disbelief. "Sheena? What the hell are you doin' here!?" Shane shouted angrily.

"I WAS waiting on you for a date you were late for!" Sheena said angrily. "But I see you'd rather mug someone than actually spend time with me." She pulled out her cell-phone.

"What are you doin'?"

"I'm calling the police." Sheena said. Shane immediately walked up to her and smacked the phone out of her hand. "What are you…"

"YOU want to call the police on ME!?" Shane yelled.

"Oh this ain't gonna be pretty." One of Shane's friends said. The man they were holding was barely struggling at this point, as if wanting to see the drama unfold.

"Yes I do!" Sheena hissed in Shane's face. "This is the last straw Shane we are through!" Sheena yelled. "I can't believe this is how you were still supporting yourself without your job you…" Sheena stomped over to pick up her phone when Shane came up behind her, grabbed her by the neck and threw her against the wall. "AH!"

"YOU ain't through here!!" Shane shouted as he raised his crowbar.

"AH!" Sheena couldn't do anything as Shane struck her with the crowbar. She tried raising her arm, as if to put up a wall between herself and the crowbar, but it was no use, her arm soon fell to the ground and Shane moved on to beat Sheena wherever he could with the crowbar.

"Show her who da boss is!"

"You got this Shane!"

"Stop that!" The captive man shouted desperately.

"You are not breakin' up with me!!" Shane shouted rabidly as he raised the crowbar for one more blow. But suddenly he felt a hand grab his wrist.

"Stop… this… instant…" Felix hissed at Shawn acidly. Felix loosened his grip and let Shawn back away from him.

"I… I know you! You're that teacher that's been puttin' garbage in her head!"

"T-teach…" Sheena said weakly, she was bleeding from her arm and her head a bit, she could barely even see right now.

"…" Felix said nothing to Shane and just glared at him.

"This is all your fault!" Shane shouted like a madman. He swung the crowbar at Felix. Felix grabbed it with his left hand and easily pulled it out of Shane's grip. "AH!" Shane threw a punch at Felix. But Felix caught it with his free hand and squeezed.

CRACK

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!" Shane pulled his hand away, bleeding and red in a few spots. "Y-you broke my ha…"

"MATCHEs YOUR JAW!!" Felix slugged Shane across the jaw and knocked him out. Felix dropped the crowbar and glared at Shane's two friends.

"Get 'im!" They released their hostage and charged Felix. Felix grabbed the first one to reach him by his foot and flipped him on to his back. He then spun around and elbowed the second guy in the gut.

"Gah! UMPH!!" Felix then immediately hit him under the chin and knocked him out.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!" The guy he flipped earlier tried to rush Felix from behind. But Felix simply wheeled around and kicked him across the face, knocking him out.

"_Sheena." _Felix quickly regained his composure and ran to Sheena. Sheena was now completely unconscious. _"I need to get her out of here…"_

"Hello police! These guys tried to mug me but then they started beating this girl and some guy…" He turned around only to find three unconscious figures. "Hey where'd the other guy go?"

"_Just hang in there Sheena."_ Felix thought. He was holding Sheena close to him as he leaped across roof-tops, still in his civilian clothing, not really caring if anyone took special note of him or not.

"…" Sheena was silent the whole time, her eyes drifted open for a moment. She thought she saw the rooftops going underneath her. Who was holding her? She felt warm. Soon she drifted back in to complete unconsciousness.

Later…

The hospital reception area had the usual commotion going about it. Some people asking where to go and what to do. Felix soon ran in carrying Sheena in his arms. "Oh god!"

"Someone help her!" Felix shouted. Soon nurses were clambering around Felix as a stretcher was wheeled in. Sheena was set gently on to the stretcher as a doctor tried asking Felix what happened. But even his super-human hearing couldn't hear what he was saying, all he paid attention to was Sheena being carted off on a stretcher.

A couple of hours passed as Felix waited outside of Sheena's room. A doctor walked up to him with a clipboard. "How is she?" Felix asked him nervously.

"Well… she has lost a bit of blood, but nothing severe. While she has been hit in the head there isn't any serious damage. The main problem is her arm. Her right arm has been fractured in a few places." The doctor told Felix.

"Is she going to have to stay here long?" Felix asked.

"Just for a little time tomorrow, possibly a little in to Sunday to see if she'll be fine." The doctor told him.

"…" Felix looked at the door with a look of worry.

"I know you want to see her… but I'm afraid visitor hours are up. You can come and visit her tomorrow." The doctor reassured Felix.

"Yeah…" Felix said sadly as he walked down the hallway.

When Felix walked out of the hospital he soon caught a familiar scent. He walked down the street and turned down the nearest alley.

"You sure are taking your sweet time." Nukenin told him from the shadows.

"Can you blame me?" Felix asked. "…"

"You know that girl you were carrying?" Nukenin asked.

"She's… one of my students." Felix answered. There was a bit of a pause. "Nukenin you think you'll be fine alone tonight?"

"Peh… better than you would be pussycat." Nukenin said.

"Yeah… thanks poser." Felix responded as he passed a gaze back at the hospital.

Felix soon found himself climbing up the side of the building. He soon caught Sheena's scent and jumped towards a particular window. He wedged his nails in to the little space between the window and the window sill and opened the window.

After he climbed in he saw Sheena lying in her bed, a hose going to her nose, and her arm in a cast hanging from a sling. She seemed somewhat peaceful if not for the fact that equipment was hooked up to her. Felix took his gloved hand and stroked her hair slowly as a tear trickled down his cheek. "I'm sorry." He whispered.

"Uhhhnnn…" Sheena slowly stirred in to consciousness. Felix took his hand away and waited for Sheena to notice him. "Teach…? Where am I…?" Sheena asked weakly.

"The hospital… I… got a taxi to bring you here after Shane…" Felix stopped there.

"Where is he now?"

"Jail." Felix answered, not that he knew for sure, but he did hear that man from earlier talk in to his cell-phone. "Oh… you dropped this." Felix set Sheena's cell-phone on the small table in the room.

"Good riddance…" Sheena said, still weak. Felix watched Sheena as a few tears leaked from her eyes. "You know… he wasn't always like that…"

"…"

"Even if I was so cold to him he'd always say nice things to me and encourage me…" Sheena said, more tears welling up as she went on. "He did all that when no one else gave a damn for me… my mom walked out on us… and dad just stopped caring… and now even Shane… even Shane just…" Before she could continue to sob some more, Felix grabbed her left hand and held it gently.

"Shhhhhhh… shhhhh…" Felix whispered. Sheena's breathing slowed down some more. "I'm sorry Sheena… I'm sorry…"

"…" Sheena looked at Felix. Felix let his shades down and returned her gaze. "Y-you know teach… you got some freaky eyes…" Sheena said between her last few sobs. "Teach… what will I do now?"

"Don't say anything…" Felix whispered. "I'll be there for you."

"…" Sheena looked at him some more as she drifted off in to sleep some more.

"I'll be there for you." Felix repeated quietly.

Monday afternoon…

"Whoa what happened to you?" Stacy asked. Sheena came in dressed in her black clothes and make-up, but this time she came in with a black cast around her arm.

"Accident." Sheena said with a shrug.

"Dude, first teach and now you?" Nathan asked. "Who's next!?" Nathan asked.

"Hysterical Nathan…" Felix said as he came in. "Have a seat everyone and let's begin class." Sheena made for her desk while Felix sat at his, they looked at each other and gave each other a smile before sitting down.

Later on after class let out Sheena was in the bathroom. She reached in to her purse and pulled out a pen with a black-light on it. She then pulled out a piece of paper that was partially tucked in to her cast. She shined the black light on it and words became visible.

I'll be there for you.

…**Notes…**

That concludes this mini-arc everyone. Let me know what you think in a review!


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